When a judge sentenced Jennifer Higgins last summer to up to six months in jail for fatally striking a 66-year-old pedestrian with her SUV, the victim’s family thought the former San Jose City Council candidate and California Women’s March leader got off lightly.
But now, Higgins is not serving any jail time at all — and apparently, she’s making the most of it.
Photos and videos from the March for Reproductive Rights on Oct. 2 in downtown Los Angeles appear to show Higgins dancing on stage after celebrities and activists like Barbara Streisand and Alyssa Milano wrapped up their speeches. At the end of a live video stream, an event emcee points at her and yells “Jenny!” as she smiles and applauds others on stage with her.
Higgins, who ran for San Jose’s District 10 council seat in 2019, was sentenced in July to up to six months in county jail for a December 2019 crash that killed Timothy Starkey of Santa Cruz. But in late August, Superior Court Judge Jose Franco decided that Higgins could satisfy her sentence by wearing an electronic monitoring device in San Mateo County, where she now lives, instead of serving time in county jail, according to court documents.
Franco previously reduced Higgins’ felony charge for vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence to a misdemeanor, paving the way for a lighter sentence.
With credit for good conduct, Higgins was ordered to wear the Buddi SmartTag GPS monitoring device for just three months, unless she violates the rules. She began wearing the monitoring device on Sept. 3 and it’s expected to come off on Dec. 1, according to court documents. She is permitted to travel to work and attend medical and court-related appointments, the documents read.
Higgins works as the director of development for the Women’s March Foundation, a non-profit organization based out of Los Angeles that organized the march she attended earlier this month, according to her LinkedIn page.
It is unclear whether Higgins was given permission by the county to attend the march as a work-related event.
The Santa Clara County probation department said in a statement that it would not respond to inquires related to Higgins’ case, citing her “constitutional right to privacy” and “confidentiality protections applicable to criminal justice information.”
When reached by phone, Higgins immediately said she had “no comment” about her case or the electronic monitoring program. Her attorney, Josh Bentley, did not respond to multiple emails and calls.
In addition to wearing the monitoring device, Higgins was ordered to pay $183,857 in restitution to Starkey’s family.
Starkey was a former vice president of operations at various technology companies across California before he retired and began working as a handyman. His family has previously described him as a loyal husband, father and friend. He could fix anything and had a “larger-than-life presence,” they said.
His family says they’re frustrated with what they see as a lack of punishment for Higgins’ actions.
“Our family continues to be deeply disappointed that Jennifer Higgins’ sentence for her extreme negligence that resulted in the tragic killing of my father, Tim Starkey, was not only significantly reduced, but that she has seen almost no punishment for her actions,” Starkey’s daughter, Bridget, said in a statement. “It is unfair and unjust that our family has not seen any commitment from her to begin her restitution for taking a human life, my father’s life.”
At about 11:40 a.m. on Dec. 16, 2019, Higgins veered her SUV out of the lane she was driving in on the 900 block of Blossom Hill Road in Los Gatos and struck Starkey, who was standing behind a parked vehicle on the shoulder of the roadway. Higgins denied being on her cell phone at the time of the crash and told officers at the scene that she could not recall what led her to swerve out of her lane approximately six to eight feet, the report stated.
Higgins was under the influence of benzodiazepine — a class of medications that are typically prescribed for anxiety, depression and insomnia — at the time of the crash, according to court documents. Those taking benzodiazepine are urged not to drive while on it since it can cause weakness and dizziness and impair driving.
Last year, Higgins pleaded no contest to her charges, which essentially has the same effect as a guilty plea but prevents the conviction from being used as evidence in any corresponding civil litigation. Starkey’s family has not yet filed a civil lawsuit against Higgins.
