An Orange County judge has granted a preliminary injunction against the release of photographs, video and audio recordings relating to the investigation of the death of actor Robert Saget at an Orlando hotel.
Judge Vincent Chiu of the Ninth Judicial Circuit approved the injunction requested by Kelly Rizzo, Saget’s surviving spouse, on Feb. 16. The injunction blocks the Orange County sheriff and the District 9 Medical Examiner’s Office from releasing the materials to the public. It covers photos, video recordings, audio recordings and other protected autopsy information relating to the death of the star of ABC’s “Full House.”
Saget, 65, was found dead at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando on Jan. 9 after he accidentally suffered a head injury in the room and went to sleep, according to Saget’s family.
The lawsuit was filed after media organizations began filing public records requests for information on the death investigation. The Attorney General’s Office’s Government-in-Sunshine-Manual says photographs, videos and audio recordings of an autopsy are confidential and can’t generally be released to the public except for special authorizations prescribed under the public records law.
“The court finds that plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm in the form of severe mental pain, anguish and emotional distress if the requested temporary injunction is not granted …” Chiu’s order states. The public interest is served by the granting of the injunction, the judge said.
In contrast to photos, videos and audio evidence, written autopsy records compiled by a medical examiner are generally public records that are open to the public, provided their release doesn’t run afoul of other exceptions to the public records law, according to Pamela Marsh, the executive director of the Florida First Amendment Association.
The withholding of the photos, audio and video is consistent with Campus Communications Inc. v. Earnhardt. That 2002 Florida case related to access to death records concerning NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt.
“There are some very small windows of opportunity to get such records released, but it’s not common anymore,” Marsh told the Florida Record.
The state legislature continues to debate adding exceptions to Florida’s public records law, she said. There are currently 1,138 exemptions to the law.
“This legislature seems to love hiding documents from the public,” Marsh said.