New Jersey
New Jersey woman arrested, jailed over mistaken identity cannot sue due to qualified immunity, court rules
![New Jersey woman arrested, jailed over mistaken identity cannot sue due to qualified immunity, court rules New Jersey woman arrested, jailed over mistaken identity cannot sue due to qualified immunity, court rules](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/09/marshal.png)
A New Jersey woman who was arrested and spent two weeks behind bars over a mistaken identity cannot sue the U.S. marshals who arrested her because they are protected by qualified immunity, a court ruled.
Judith Maureen Henry was booked into the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark in 2019 after the marshals detained her, mistakenly believing she was another woman with the same name who pleaded guilty to drug possession and skipped her parole in Pennsylvania in 1993.
Henry sought to sue the marshals over the mistake, but a three-judge appellate panel ruled Thursday that the marshals acted on a “constitutionally valid” warrant and were protected by qualified immunity, which shields law enforcement from liability for wrongdoing.
“Their arrest of Henry relying on information attached to the warrant was a reasonable mistake, and therefore her arrest did not violate the Fourth Amendment,” Judge Thomas Ambro of the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in the ruling, according to the New Jersey Monitor.
WOMAN RUN OVER BY POLICE OFFICER WHILE SUNBATHING AT NEW JERSEY BEACH: POLICE
A court ruled that Judith Maureen Henry, who was arrested and jailed over a mistaken identity, cannot sue the U.S. marshals who arrested her because they are protected by qualified immunity. (Getty Images)
Henry repeatedly told marshals during her 2019 arrest that she was not the person they were after and asked them to compare her fingerprints to those of the actual offender. But nobody compared the fingerprints until 10 days after her arrest, when she was transferred to Pennsylvania, and she remained locked up for another few days before she was finally released.
“Henry’s complaint — that the Marshals failed to take her claims of innocence seriously — raises a host of policy questions about the role of the Marshals Service after they apprehend a suspect on a warrant for a crime they did not investigate,” Ambro wrote.
The judge said those questions include how strong a claim of innocence must be before a marshal investigates, who should investigate and how thorough an investigation should be conducted. He said a reasonable observer could conclude the answers to these questions would be easy to find and would impose “minimal burdens” on the marshals.
![Jail cell](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/1200/675/jailstock.png?ve=1&tl=1)
Marshals mistook Judith Maureen Henry for another woman with the same name who pleaded guilty to drug possession and skipped her parole in Pennsylvania in 1993. (iStock)
But, Ambro wrote, those policy questions should be up to lawmakers to address.
He also noted that the marshals were not involved in Henry’s continued detention.
The court also rejected allegations from Henry, who is black and from Jamaica, that she faced this treatment due to her race, sex, national origin and lower economic status.
“We need not accept this bare conclusion, and she offers no other allegations to support it,” Ambro wrote.
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![Gavel in court room](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/03/1200/675/gavel.png?ve=1&tl=1)
An appellate panel ruled that the marshals were protected by qualified immunity, which shields law enforcement from liability for wrongdoing. (Getty Images )
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A district judge had refused the marshals’ request to dismiss Henry’s lawsuit against them, but Ambro reversed that ruling and ordered the judge to drop the marshals from the lawsuit.
Outside the marshals, Henry’s lawsuit named Essex County and about 30 law enforcement officers and government officials in New Jersey and Pennsylvania as defendants, accusing them of abuse of process, false arrest and imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, failure to train and supervise and conspiracy.
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New Jersey
Woman run over by police officer while sunbathing at New Jersey beach: police
![Woman run over by police officer while sunbathing at New Jersey beach: police Woman run over by police officer while sunbathing at New Jersey beach: police](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/09/WILDWOOD-PD.png)
A woman relaxing at a beach in Wildwood, New Jersey, was reportedly run over by a police officer during a freak accident last week.
The incident took place on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Star-Ledger. Wildwood Police Chief Joseph Murphy told the Press of Atlantic City that the incident involved one of the department’s Ford F-150 pickup trucks.
The victim, whose name was not released by authorities, suffered broken ribs, three fractured vertebrae and a lung injury, according to WPVI-TV, which cited the victim’s boyfriend.
Murphy said the officer driving the pickup was responding to an ordinance violation when the accident happened.
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A woman was reportedly run over by a Wildwood Police Department pickup truck last week. (iStock)
“The officer was down there in performance of his duties on a call for service,” the police chief said. “Horrifically, he ran over a victim who was lying on the beach.”
Murphy added that the victim was visiting Wildwood while on vacation ahead of Labor Day weekend.
“There was a lot of help from people on the beach,” the police chief added. “The civilians on the beach did an incredible job.”
A bystander named Rose Simone told WPVI-TV that fellow beachgoers panicked when the pickup ran over the woman.
WOMAN IMPALED BY UMBRELLA WHILE SUNBATHING AT FLORIDA BEACH: POLICE
![Beach skyline](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/09/1200/675/GettyImages-1320422234.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
People walk along the beach in Wildwood, N.J. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images/File)
“Everybody was gathering around screaming, yelling at the person in the truck, ‘Stop! There’s somebody under your truck! You hit somebody!’” the Chalfont, Pa., resident recalled.
“A bunch of guys came around that were in the area, and they said we have to lift the truck, the front of the truck, to get her out,” Simone continued.
Simone told the Star-Ledger that she noticed the woman before the incident happened. The victim was wearing dark clothes while lying on a beach towel.
“It was an accident, clearly, but one that probably could have been avoided,” she added.
The victim is expected to survive.
![People in swimsuits at beach](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/09/1200/675/GettyImages-1241008724.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
A view of the beach in Wildwood, N.J. (Mark Makela/Getty Images/File)
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Wildwood Police Department for more information.
New Jersey
Another 4-year-old boy nearly drowns, tragic NJ summer continues
![Another 4-year-old boy nearly drowns, tragic NJ summer continues Another 4-year-old boy nearly drowns, tragic NJ summer continues](https://townsquare.media/site/385/files/2024/09/attachment-near-drown.jpg?w=1200&q=75&format=natural)
🔵 Boy rescued from swimming pool at the Jersey Shore
🔵 Tragic drownings continue in NJ
🔵 Families can take steps to protect unsupervised kids from pools
BERKELEY — A four-year-old boy is hospitalized in critical but stable condition after a rescue in Ocean County this Labor Day weekend, according to authorities.
The young child was rescued from a swimming pool at a home in South Seaside Park on Friday, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Police said the boy was unresponsive when officers arrived around 3:30 p.m.
He was rushed to the hospital. Authorities said the boy was alive as of the latest update midday Saturday.
Tragic drownings continue in NJ
At least 11 other families have lost children in accidental drownings in New Jersey since Memorial Day.
A missing four-year-old child in Middlesex County was found dead in a pond behind a home in Monroe on Tuesday, authorities said.
Another four-year-old boy in Bergen County drowned in his family’s pool in July.
Children aren’t the only ones drowning in New Jersey. A man swimming with friends drowned in the Cedar Lake Wildlife Management on Thursday.
Read More: Multiple drownings this week, with the latest in South Jersey
Residential inground swimming pool in backyard with waterfall and hot tub
Protect unsupervised kids from pools
Drowning is a leading cause of death among young children four and under.
Nationally, drownings of children 15 and younger increased 15% from 2020 to 2021, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. That’s the latest data available.
The CPSC recommends families should install multiple protective measures around pools including fences, alarms, pool covers, and self-latching features to keep unsupervised kids away from the water.
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New Jersey
Hockey sticks, Gatorade left in tribute on NJ road where NHL star Johnny Gaudreau, brother Matthew were killed: ‘Forever in our hearts’
![Hockey sticks, Gatorade left in tribute on NJ road where NHL star Johnny Gaudreau, brother Matthew were killed: ‘Forever in our hearts’ Hockey sticks, Gatorade left in tribute on NJ road where NHL star Johnny Gaudreau, brother Matthew were killed: ‘Forever in our hearts’](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/newspress-collage-re5zh8cs1-1725158866963.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1725144496&w=1024)
Grieving hockey fans erected a memorial Saturday on the New Jersey corner where an alleged drunk driver claimed the lives of NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his younger brother Matthew.
A cross crafted from old hockey sticks bearing the names of the brothers and their respective player numbers was plunged into the ground alongside County Route 551 in Oldmans Township, where the duo had been cycling together Thursday evening.
Several other sticks were arranged on the grass peppered between dozens of flower bouquets, balloons and a sign promising that the brothers will be “forever in our hearts.”
Suchat Pederson/New York Post
Odes to the Gaudreaus’ respective hockey careers were also offered up at the memorial — including two bottles of Gatorade, which served as a nod to Johnny Gaudreau’s tradition of sharing a bottle of the sports drink with his old Calgary Flames teammates after scoring a goal.
One man who laid down flowers told The Post that the offerings were left by “the entire hockey community across the country.”
They even left behind flowers, hockey sticks and even jerseys front of the home of their surviving family members — who were meant to be celebrating a wedding rather than the loss of both brothers.
“What makes this so sad is that it could have been preventable. If he drank, why didn’t he just take an Uber?” one grieving visitor, who declined to share their name, said of the alleged drunk driver.
Johnny, 31, and Matthew, 29, were biking in their New Jersey hometown when they were struck and killed by a motorist who allegedly told a state trooper he guzzled “five to six” beers” before the crash.
The driver, Sean Higgins, reportedly attempted to pass an SUV in front of him, which had moved into the middle of the roadway to give the brothers plenty of room, just after 8 p.m.
Follow the NY Post’s coverage on NHL star Johnny Gaudreau’s tragic death at 31:
The US Army Major tried to pass the SUV on the right, striking the Gaudreaus from behind. The county road is rural, with crops on either side. There are no shoulders or street lights.
The tragedy struck one day before the Gaudreau brothers were set to take part as groomsmen in their sister Katie’s wedding to hockey player Devin Joyce in Gloucester City, NJ. The family had even celebrated the wedding rehearsal just hours before the tragedy.
Johnny, who played for the Columbus Blue Jackets, leaves behind a wife and two young daughters.
Matthew’s wife is pregnant and is expecting their first child in December.
Higgins — who appeared to sigh with exasperation in court upon learning he would be held in jail through next week — faces two counts of vehicular homicide.
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