Original story below.
The family of recently deceased actor Bob Saget has sued authorities in Florida in a bid to stop them from releasing pictures, audio, and videos from the investigation into Saget’s death.
Saget’s widow Kelly Rizzo and the late actor’s daughters told a judge that some media outlets have already lodged or plan to lodge public records requests for the materials and are angling to block the efforts.
“Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm in the form of extreme mental pain, anguish, and emotional distress if defendants release the records in response to public records requests or otherwise disseminate the records for any other reason or purpose,” the 10-page lawsuit, filed in circuit court in Orange County and obtained by The Epoch Times, states.
Any photographs, videos, or audio recordings captured during the death investigation should be deemed confidential and exempt from disclosure under Florida law, Saget’s family asserts. Additionally, no legitimate public interest would be served by the release of the records, they say.
“The facts of the investigation should be made public, but these materials should remain private out of respect for the dignity of Mr. Saget and his family. It’s very simple—from a human and legal standpoint—the Saget family’s privacy rights outweigh any public interest in disclosure of this sensitive information,” Brian Bieber, an attorney representing the family, told The Epoch Times in an email.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the county’s medical examiner’s office were named as defendants.
“While we are sensitive to the family’s concerns about the right to privacy, that must be balanced with our commitment to transparency, compliance with the law, and the public’s right to know,” the sheriff’s office told The Epoch Times in an email.
The medical examiner’s office said that it “continues to offer our condolences to the family and loved ones of Robert Saget.”
“At this time we have no comment on current or pending litigation involving the office,” it added.
Saget died at age 65 on Jan. 9. He was in a hotel room in Orlando.
Dr. Joshua Stephany, Orange County’s chief medical examiner, said he believed Saget “suffered an unwitnessed fall backwards and struck the posterior aspect of his head.” The manner of death was ruled accidental.
Saget tested positive for COVID-19. Testing turned up no trace of drugs or toxins in his system.
Saget was perhaps best known for playing Danny Tanner on Full House and Fuller House. Besides acting, he was a comedian who regularly toured.
