By
Adam Edelman
and Marc Caputo -
NBC News
A Florida judge's ruling on Wednesday regarding records related to the investigation into Bob Saget's death will keep information, including videos and photos of his body, confidential, keeping it in the hands of the late actor's loved ones for now. .
Saget's family relied on keeping those records private under a 21-year-old Florida law related to the death of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt.
The court ruling in favor of Saget's wife, Kelly Rizzo, and their three daughters, determined that
the Saget family would suffer "irreparable harm"
if the records were made public now
.
Circuit Judge Vincent Chiu added in his ruling that "the plaintiffs have a clear legal right or interest in the protected records as the surviving spouse and children of Mr. Saget."
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The late actor Bob Saget in a December 8, 2021 file photo. Richard Shotwell / Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
The rules governing the release of autopsy reports and related documents vary from state to state.
In Florida, exemptions apply to photographs, videos, and recordings of the death investigation, as well as photographs and videos that may have been included in the autopsy report.
“That information is exempt from our public records laws.
It is not subject to public disclosure.
The medical examiner is prohibited from releasing it to anyone other than family,” said Virginia Hamrick, an attorney with the First Amendment Foundation, a Tallahassee-based association that tracks information related to the state's public records laws. condition.
Rizzo and her daughters had filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Orange County Sheriff John Mina and the District Nine medical examiner's office.
Both agencies are handling the investigation into Saget's death after the 65-year-old comedian was found dead Jan. 9 in his hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes.
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The lawsuit was filed
in response to media outlets submitting public records requests
for specific documents related to the investigation, including photographs, video and audio recordings, as well as what the lawsuit calls "autopsy information protected by law." ”.
Saget's family argued in their lawsuit that "the publication or dissemination of the records to the public would not serve any legitimate public interest."
His lawsuit came days after it was revealed the
Full House
actor died of severe head trauma, leading to speculation that the death was actually an accident.
The Saget family said in a statement that authorities concluded
he accidentally hit the back of the head on something and went to sleep
, saying no drugs or alcohol were involved.
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Wednesday's ruling surprised Dr. Stephen Nelson, who chairs the Florida Commission of Medical Examiners and is the chief medical examiner in an adjoining district in the center of the state.
Nelson said that
while photos and videos are exempt under Florida law, an autopsy report is not
.
"The only records that wouldn't be exempt would be the autopsy report, the toxicology report and things like that... I'm surprised the judge could overrule the state law," Nelson said.
“Everything we do that is paid for with taxpayer dollars is public record, except for those things for which there is a public records exemption: photographs, videos and audio recordings,” he explained.
Earnhardt's accident led to a new law
Before 2001, everything related to death investigations was in the public domain in Florida.
But that year, state lawmakers passed legislation making exemptions after Earnhardt's death, at the urging of his family and his NASCAR.
His death came just days after the Orlando Sentinel published a series of investigations into the need for head and neck protective devices for race car drivers.
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The newspaper wanted experts to review autopsy evidence to see if Earnhardt's death could have been prevented by security devices.
However, following tearful testimony from Earnhardt's widow, Teresa, who had pleaded with lawmakers for her family's privacy, then-Governor Jeb Bush and leaders of the Florida Legislature, who had a friendly relationship with NASCAR They passed a law to seal autopsy photos and videos.
Earnhardt and Saget's death records are not the only ones subject to legal challenges.
In the 1990s, Florida judges restricted access to autopsy photos of slain fashion designer Gianni Versace and victims of serial killer Danny Rolling.