A 30-day extension was granted Tuesday to the state prosecution in the case of the driver charged with killing NHL player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of Woodstown, N.J., is charged with two counts of death by auto/vehicular manslaughter, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle.
At a pre-indictment conference on Tuesday at the Salem County Courthouse in New Jersey, Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio announced an agreement had been reached between the state and defence attorneys, granting the former another 30 days in order to file an indictment. Prosecutors had been seeking a 60-day extension, but settled for the latter.
No new court date in the case was set.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother, Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, N.J., on Aug. 29, as they bicycled on a rural road in New Jersey, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge previously stated made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, and told them he had a history of “driving like a nut,” prosecutors said.
— With files from The Associated Press