Venus Williams: Judge Temporarily Blocks Inspection of Crash Vehicles

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL — As Venus Williams hits the court at Wimbledon on Friday her attorneys back home will be heading into a very different kind of court where a Palm Beach County judge is expected set the ground rules for inspecting the tennis great's SUV and another car involved in a June 9 crash. A 78-year-old man died of the injuries he suffered as a result of the accident and his wife was hospitalized. The family is suing Williams for an undisclosed sum.

A Palm Beach County judge granted an emergency motion from Williams' attorneys on Thursday blocking lawyers for the family of Jeremy and Linda Barson from downloading any information from the vehicles or conducting inspections until a process for doing so can be set by the judge.

Maj. Paul Rogers of the Palm Beach Gardens police told Patch on Thursday that the crash remains under investigation and that no charges had been filed against Williams.

Barson died on June 22, his wife's 68th birthday. The couple had been married for 33 years with seven grandchildren.

See also: Venus Williams Sued After Man Dies In Car Crash

According to the lawsuit, Barson's wife Linda was driving with her husband in the passenger seat when Williams "negligently operated or maintained the Toyota Sequoia so that she collided with a 2016 Hyundai Accent being operated by Linda Barson and occupied by her husband, Jerome Barson."

The suit alleged that Williams ran a red light and "was driving too fast for the conditions, driving carelessly and recklessly" and also accused her of "distracted driving."

Palm Beach County records examined by Patch show that Williams was cited for driving with a suspended or revoked license on July 3, 2013. following an unrelated traffic accident that had property damage of less than $3,000. No one was injured in that accident which occurred at 5 p.m. in the southbound lanes of I-95 at Glades Road in Boca Raton, Florida. Williams was not required to appear in court for that incident but she paid a fine of $163.

In 2011, she paid $139 after being cited on Sept. 30, 2011 for driving without proof of insurance. It was not clear from the records why she had been pulled over. The citation was issued at 11 p.m. at Main Street and Chancellor Drive in Jupiter, Florida.

The recent crash came five days after Williams was eliminated from the French Open by Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland.

The five-time Wimbledon singles champion is defeated Elise Mertens of Belgium and Wang Qiang of China earlier this week. She is scheduled to take on Japan's Naomi Osakake on Friday.

Venus Williams reacts in her women's singles fourth round match against Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland during day eight of the French Open at Roland Garros on June 4 in Paris. She was involved in a car crash five days later. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)