Judge drops charges in NJ prison scandal, igniting outrage over justice denied

🔴 14 Edna Mahan corrections officers avoid trial in 2021 inmate beating scandal.

🔴 Judge says “prosecutorial mismanagement” violated officers’ right to a speedy trial.

🔴 Critics blame Attorney General Matt Platkin for denying justice to beaten inmates.

UNION TOWNSHIP (Hunterdon) — After four years of legal limbo, a Superior Court judge has dismissed charges against corrections officers accused of vicious inmate beatings at the only women's prison in New Jersey.

The tossed indictments against 14 prison guards stemmed from "forced cell extractions" on Jan. 11, 2021, at the embattled Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women.

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That night shift of terror prompted Gov. Murphy's decision later that year to close the facility in Union Township. Former corrections commissioner Marcus Hicks was also dropped from the governor's administration due to the scandal.

But now, there won't be any trials for the officers accused of participating in at least two inmate beatings, which were partially caught on video.

Brutal beatings led to statewide outrage

All 14 corrections officers accused of participating in the beatings were charged with official misconduct, and 11 of them were charged with second-degree aggravated assault.

Investigators said one inmate suffered a skull fracture around her eye after she complied with being handcuffed. Another inmate who wasn't resisting was punched nearly 30 times by one officer as she was restrained by other officers.

Judge blasts Attorney General’s Office

Superior Court Judge Christopher Garrenger dismissed the indictments with prejudice, meaning prosecutors cannot try to present the evidence to a grand jury a second time.

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In a lengthy decision, Garrenger said "prosecutorial mismanagement" and constant delays by the state Attorney General's Office violated the corrections officers' right to a speedy trial.

“While some delay is attributable to legitimate complexity and procedural posture, the State has not provided sufficient justification for the extraordinary four-year period from arrest to the current pre-trial stage,” Garrenger said.

The OAG was given 45 days to appeal the decision, which it will immediately do, according to State First Assistant Attorney General Lyndsay Ruotolo.

“The court’s ruling does not exonerate the defendants or erase the allegations. Rather, it rests on legal conclusions and distorted characterizations of the record about the pace of proceedings and the way in which the law was presented to the members of the grand jury," Ruotolo said in a statement to NJ.com.

Lawmaker piles on Attorney General Matt Platkin for “failure of leadership”

Assemblywoman Aura Dunn, R-Morris, said Attorney General Matt Platkin's office failed the victims, which she called a pattern.

"This is an unconscionable failure of leadership. Women who were beaten, brutalized, and humiliated behind bars have now been denied justice — not because the evidence was lacking, but because Matt Platkin’s office botched the prosecution," Dunn said in a statement.

Dunn is calling for Platkin to testify under oath to the state legislature about how the case was mishandled.

Platkin is recused from the matter, according to OAG spokesperson Mike Symons.

Defense attorney vows lawsuit after years of lost pay

Robin Lord, a defense attorney for Ryan Valentin, a major at Edna Mahan, said to NJ Spotlight News that her client had lost more than four years of pay due to the charges.

“This started politically and ended incompetently. It was just horrible, just horrible what they did to them," Lord said.

Lord said they will file a lawsuit against the state and get Valentin his job back, plus back pay.

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