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Bob Saget’s family gets temporary order blocking release of Full House star’s death records

Attorney said family was ‘pleased that the Court had focused on the human elements here’

Maanya Sachdeva
Monday 21 February 2022 06:39 GMT
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Comedian Bob Saget dies aged 65

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Bob Saget’s family has been granted a temporary court order blocking the release of any “sensitive information” pertaining to his death.

On Wednesday (16 February), it was reported that Circuit Court Judge Vincent Chiu allowed a temporary injunction after observing that the Saget family had made a convincing case for it.

The comedian’s family, including widow Kelly Rizzo and his three daughters from a previous marriage, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday (15 February) to prevent Florida police officials from releasing additional information about Saget’s death to the public.

In the lawsuit, which named Orange County Sheriff John Mina and the District Nine Medical Examiner’s Office, they argued that photographs, videos, and autopsy information pertaining to the investigation into Saget’s death, are “confidential and exempt from disclosure to the public”.

At the time, their attorney Brian Bieber also said Rizzo and Saget’s daughters were seeking injunctive relief against the release of such information that must remain private “out of respect for the dignity of Mr Saget and his family”.

According to court documents, obtained by People, the court has now ruled that Saget’s family has “a clear legal right or interest in the Protected Records as the surviving spouse and children.”

Commenting on the temporary order, Bieber said Saget’s family was “pleased” that Judge Chiu had “focussed on the human elements” of the case, in a statement to People.

The order, while temporary, will come into effect as soon as the family furnishes a $1000 (£736)-bond with the court’s clerk.

In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Candace Cameron Bure revealed she has kept “close contact” with Rizzo, after her Full House co-star was found dead in an Orlando hotel room on 9 January 2022.

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She said: “It’s been difficult these past couple weeks because of more things that have come out and there’s a lot of questions.”

On 9 February, the comedian’s family revealed he died from accidental trauma to the head, adding that there were no signs of drug use or alcohol in the autopsy report.

Officials concluded Saget “accidentally hit the back of his head on something, thought nothing of it and went to sleep”, his family said.

Subsequently, The New York Times reported that some neurological experts have concerns over the nature of Saget’s injuries that appear more consistent with a “baseball bat to the head” or a fall from “20 or 30 feet”.

In addition to appearing on Full House and its sequel Fuller House, Saget was known for hosting America’s Funniest Home Videos and voicing the narrator on hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother.

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