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The alleged drunk driver charged with killing NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother last year is desperately fighting to have his confession thrown out of court.
Sean Higgins, 44, appeared in Salem County Courtroom on Wednesday to hear four of the cops who attended the scene shortly after Gaudreau and his brother were knocked off their bikes in August last year.
As reported by the New York Post, the officers alleged that a 'frantic' Higgins admitted to hitting the pair shortly before his arrest, and he was later charged with two counts of reckless vehicular homicide and aggravated manslaughter.
New Jersey State Police sergeant Kenenth Flanegan testified that Higgins told him: 'I hit them. I hit them' at the scene.
In a clip from the cops' bodycam footage, Higgins can also be told telling state trooper Zachary Harding: 'Is anybody dead back there?', before explaining how the crash occurred.
Higgins claimed that he was attempting to pass a slow driver, but the driver moved into the oncoming traffic lane, forcing him back into the original lane, where he then hit the two cyclists.
Sean Higgins (pictured in April) appeared in court on Wednesday as he and his defense team attempted to have his confession thrown out ahead of his trial
NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and brother Matthew were killed after being struck while cycling
'I passed back over because he was passing [in] this lane. I hit the bikers,' he said.
In another video, he can be heard saying: 'My life is over. I just hit people, apparently. I don’t know what the hell I just hit. I hit bikers who were in the middle of the road, in the dark.'
The bodycam footage was played in court in a bid to determine whether Higgins' statements should be allowed in at trial.
Higgins' defense attorneys are arguing that he wasn't properly read his Miranda rights as police addressed him, and that he was questioned by cops at the police station despite asking for a lawyer during his interview.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, countered that Higgins was read his rights at the scene and later at the police station, and that he indicated he understood and agreed to speak.
The court was shown bodycam footage from the moments after the crash in New Jersey
A driver in front of Higgins told police that he had been driving aggressively. When she and another driver slowed down and moved to the left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right before striking the brothers, she said
Higgins has previously rejected a 35-year-sentence plea deal and pleaded not guilty to his charges of reckless vehicular homicide and aggravated manslaughter. He faces up to 70 years in prison if found guilty on all counts.
Two more state troopers, Mark Allonardo and Adam Crespo, also testified in court on Wednesday, with the former stating: 'I could detect an odor of alcoholic beverage from defendant’s breath as I spoke to him.'
Allonardo went on to explain that he made Higgins take a field sobriety test shortly after, which he failed. He also allegedly told cops he'd had 'five or six drinks'.
He is also claimed to have told them: 'I mean I’ve been drinking beers, but I haven’t had one in like two hours.'
Johnny and Matthew were knocked off their bikes the night before their sister's wedding
Higgins is shown shortly after his arrest
Higgins has previously attempted to have his charges reduced or dropped on the grounds that the brothers, who were more inebriated than him, contributed to the accident.
Matthew, 29, and Johnny, 31, both had blood alcohol levels of .129 or above, which registered higher than Higgins' at the time of the accident.
The Gaudreau brothers were in the area to attend their sister's wedding, which was scheduled to take place the day after they were mown down.
Higgins pulled his car over a quarter of a mile down the road from where he allegedly struck the brothers, where cops found him.
