Panel to Receive Files on Cho's Commitment Hearing

RICHMOND, June 19 -- The panel investigating the April 16 massacre at Virginia Tech now will have access to killer Seung Hui Cho's commitment hearing records, officials said Tuesday.

The release of the records came as Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) signed an executive order strengthening the powers of the panel and clarifying its mission. Kaine's order, signed Monday, follows increasing scrutiny from the relatives of some of Cho's 32 victims over the review panel's mission and legal standing.

In an order signed late Monday, Montgomery County District Court Judge Randal J. Duncan granted the review panel access to a tape of the Dec. 14, 2005, commitment hearing at which a special justice found Cho to be mentally ill and a threat to himself or others -- the criteria for involuntary treatment.

The judge also ordered the special justice, Paul M. Barnett, to release "all written records" related to the case to the eight-member panel. As of Tuesday evening, the panel did not have the audio tape or records. But panel officials said they hope the information -- which will not be made public -- will offer further insight into Cho's mental condition in the years leading up to the rampage.

After Barnett determined Cho was mentally ill, the justice ordered him to receive counseling at Virginia Tech's Cook Counseling Center. Cho never received the follow-up care, according to three sources familiar with Cho's treatment.

Kaine said in the order that he wants the panel to review Cho's mental condition dating to his time as a student at Westfield High School in Fairfax County. Kaine also formally requested that the panel review how state, local and university mental health agencies responded to concerns about Cho's mental health.

Kaine, who commissioned the panel three days after the shooting, also empowered it to review how Cho acquired his weapons and investigate whether Virginia Tech officials and police responded appropriately to the shootings at a dormitory and a classroom building.

The executive order "defines the scope of the panel's work," said Kevin Hall, a Kaine spokesman.

To help the panel complete its work, Kaine's order calls on state and local governments to cooperate by turning over all relevant records related to Cho or the shooting that are not protected by state or federal privacy laws.

If certain information is protected, Kaine authorized the panel to obtain a court order to force its release.

Kaine designated the panel as a "health oversight authority" so it will have an easier time convincing a judge that the information is needed to achieve the "appropriate oversight of the Commonwealth's mental health care and other health care systems," according to the order.

Hall said, "I am not sure they would have had the standing to use the courts in that way, absent the executive order."

The panel also wants access to Cho's academic records.

"If there is a need to go to court again, we will, but the hope is whatever is not legally protected, we will be now required to get," because of Kaine's order, said James M. Kudla, a panel spokesman.

Kaine's effort to clarify the panel's role comes a week after the relatives of some of Cho's victims, who want to be included on the panel, demanded to see a written mission statement from the panel. The family members were told none existed, said Thomas J. Fadoul, a Vienna lawyer who represents 20 of the families.

"I don't know what constitution they have been operating under since April 16," Fadoul said Tuesday.

Kaine plans to meet with some of the family members at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Capitol. Fadoul said he hopes the family members can persuade the governor to amend his executive order so the relatives can play a larger role in the panel's work.