UVA Shooter Report Delayed… Again
We knew the $1.5 million, taxpayer-funded Attorney General report on the circumstances surrounding the November 13, 2022, triple murder at UVA would be delayed past the promised release date next month — we just didn’t know the excuse for doing it.
Now we do.
UVA President Jim Ryan vowed to release the report, which he withheld on the grounds that the contents might be prejudicial to the case, after the sentencing of the shooter, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. The sentencing was scheduled for February 4. Now the proceeding has been delayed nine-and-a-half months to November 17, reports The Daily Progress.
An attorney for the families of the murder victims said that Albemarle County Commonwealth Attorney Jim Hingely sought the delay after the defense submitted a lengthy mitigation report. “Something this important, you’ve got to have your experts review it,” said the attorney, Michael Haggard. “It’s unfortunate.”
Review it for nine-and-a-half months? Wow.
The Daily Progress documented — and The Jefferson Council confirmed — that Ryan initiated a meeting with Hingeley before issuing a statement on why UVA was delaying release of the investigative report. No explanation was given how the report could have prejudiced the outcome of the trial or sentencing, and no explanation given of why a redacted version of the report could not have been released. Many observers believe that the report detailing the failure to prevent the tragedy despite multiple red flags would be an embarrassment to the administration.
Meanwhile, families of the victims will have to wait the better part of a year before finding the full truth — if they find it then. Who knows what grounds might be found for delaying it again. And members of the UVA community will remain ignorant of whether the administration has effectively addressed the structural and procedural failures that could have averted the shooting.
James A. Bacon is the founder of Bacon’s Rebellion and a contributing editor with The Jefferson Council.
