Johnny Gaudreau blood test dispute could weaken 0.87 case
johnny gaudreau’s fatal crash case now turns on a blood test that the defense says may have been done the wrong way. Sean Higgins was reported at 0.87, above the.08 legal limit, but his lawyer says the sample should have been tested on whole blood and came out at.075 instead.
Sean Higgins And The 0.87 Test
Anthony Vecchio said, “They are supposed to test whole blood,” and argued that a plasma test can produce a BAC that is artificially higher. That is the split at the center of the case: one reading places Higgins over the limit, while the defense says the proper calculation drops him below it.
Jonathan Bruno said Gary Lage is “very well respected,” and described the defense theory this way: “If they used plasma, a good criminal defense attorney would argue that the testing procedures were not followed appropriately, and that’s exactly what is happening here.” He also said the adjusted result could be a major win for the defense if the blood reading is excluded.
Michael Mestern’s Response
Salem County prosecutor Michael Mestern said his office would “refute” the defense expert’s findings, and he said a jury would ultimately decide whether the test is valid. Mestern also said prosecutors have plenty of other evidence to convict Higgins, which keeps the blood issue from being the only path in the case.
Higgins faces two counts of reckless vehicular homicide, two counts of first-degree aggravated manslaughter, leaving the scene of a fatal accident, and tampering with physical evidence. If convicted, he faces 72 years in prison.
Oldmans Township Crash
Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau were killed on Aug. 29, 2024, after being struck while bicycling on a rural roadway in Oldmans Township, New Jersey, across the Delaware River from Wilmington. The brothers had left their sister’s wedding rehearsal dinner before the crash, and police accused Higgins of causing the fatal collision.
The blood dispute now gives the defense a narrow but concrete opening in a case built around intoxication evidence. Bruno said the state can still rely on physical observation and field sobriety tests even if the blood result falls away, so the fight shifts to whether the test holds up and how much of the prosecution’s intoxication proof survives with it.
