A prosecutor has proposed a 35-year prison term for the driver charged with killing hockey star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, as they bicycled along a rural South Jersey road.
But lawyers for Sean Higgins, 44, rejected the deal at a brief court hearing.
“We’re going to enter a not guilty plea on his behalf,” attorney Matthew Portella said.
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Co-counsel Richard Klineburger III also referred to a “probable” effort to suppress evidence against Higgins, a Pilesgrove man allegedly driving drunk at the time of the Aug. 29 accident.
The prosecution has claimed that Higgins was speeding when he tried to pass a vehicle on the right and struck the Gaudreaus along the narrow shoulder of Pennsville-Auburn Road.
Johnny Gaudreau, a 31-year-old member of the Columbus Blue Jackets and an NHL All-Star, and his 29-year-old brother, Matthew Gaudreau, were declared dead at the scene.
The prosecution’s plea offer recommended consecutive sentences of 15 years each for two charges of aggravated manslaughter. It called for an additional five-year term, also to be consecutive, for leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
Higgins would have to serve more than 25 years before parole eligibility. He’d also be expected to admit guilt to driving while intoxicated at a sentencing hearing.
An indictment brought by a grand jury last month included additional charges that would be dropped. They are two counts of reckless vehicular homicide and tampering with physical evidence.
Higgins attended the hearing but did not address Superior Court Judge Michael Silvania at the Salem County courthouse. He is being held at Salem County Jail pending trial.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 4.
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Sean Higgins is charged over the deaths of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau