Bob Saget’s Family Suing Florida Police To Block Death Records Release

In order to protect details surrounding his death from media companies preparing to request them, the family of Bob Saget is taking legal action against Florida police to block his death records. Saget died suddenly in his hotel room in January while on a stand-up comedy tour, and the cause of death was recently revealed to be head trauma.

The news of the suit was revealed yesterday when court documents filed by an attorney representing Saget’s widow, Kelly Rizzo, and daughters Aubrey, Lara and Jennifer. These documents named Orange County Sheriff John Mina and the District Nine Medical Examiner’s Office in Florida as recipients in the suit, and the complaint read that the family hopes to block records of the investigation because, “certain news and media outlets filed or plan to file public records requests,” to obtain the documents.

The family is attempting to assert their privacy rights over news outlets that want to see the death records for themselves. Their attorney Brian Bieber told E! News that he filed the suit yesterday, “to prevent the disclosure of any photographs or videos of Mr. Saget made by the authorities during their investigation.

Bieber reiterated that this was done out of a desire for privacy in this difficult time. “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.”

This block is a temporary injunction meant to cover the time before Florida courts make an official ruling as to whether the details of this investigation will be allowed to be blocked permanently.

The Sheriff’s Office for Orange County, Florida, and Chief Medical Examiner’s Office have not responded publicly to the lawsuit yet. The last public statement the Chief Medical Examiner for Orange County made a statement confirming that “the manner of death is an accident,” and that a toxicology report returned no evidence of drugs or alcohol in Saget at the time of his passing.