Daily Progress appeals after UVa shooting report withheld

The newspaper filed the documents with the Virginia Court of Appeals last week.

“We will not be swayed,” said Daily Progress publisher Reynolds Hutchins. “We have every respect for the court, but we believe the judge made a mistake in allowing the Albemarle County District Attorney to intervene in our case and ending the proceedings before closing arguments could even begin. Virginia taxpayers paid more than a million dollars for this report last year, and three families have paid an incalculable price in 2022. They all deserve to know what happened.”

On July 18, Albemarle County District Court Judge Melvin Hughes declined to release the report after Albemarle County District Attorney Jim Hingeley intervened in the case.

“They are under seal,” Hughes said from the bench, “and I intend to keep them under seal.”

Virginia's Freedom of Information Act requires the release of most government records, but an exception applies to the contents of a criminal investigation. Hingeley claims the report is now part of the investigation into 24-year-old Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., the former UVa student who was witnessed killing Cavalier football players Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D'Sean Perry on a charter bus on UVa's campus on the evening of Nov. 13, 2022, after returning from a field trip to Washington, D.C.

“My biggest concern is the criminal investigation,” Hughes said. “I believe it's a criminal investigation file.”

The deciding factor was Hingeley, said the judge.

Hingeley initially said he would stay out of the case and spread that message in newspapers and on the radio. He did not change course until long after the lawsuit was filed, filing a motion to intervene on June 25. The Daily Progress filed its lawsuit against UVa in February.

“It’s late, but convincing,” Hughes said.

In June, Hingeley claimed in court that the report became part of the criminal investigation after UVa Police Chief Tim Longo received copies of it.

Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Open Government Coalition, called the argument “alchemical.”

“Do you have an embarrassing file in town?” Rhyne posted on X after Hughes' decision. “Give it to the police chief and say it's related to any investigation and hey presto, it's gone.”

The original records request was submitted to UVa in October by Daily Progress reporter Jason Armesto, when UVa President Jim Ryan was still saying the report would be made available to the public. The documents were commissioned by Attorney General Jason Miyares at the request of UVa's Board of Visitors, just days after Jones was witnessed opening fire on the chartered bus, killing Davis, Chandler and Perry and injuring sophomore Marlee Morgan and fellow football player Mike Hollins.

Since the shooting, the families of the dead have been pushing in vain for the report to be released.

In court on July 18, counsel for Armesto, The Daily Progress and newspaper publisher Lee Enterprises said UVa missed its chance to argue that the report was part of the criminal investigation file when it decided in June not to present any evidence on the matter.

“The UVa case is closed,” said attorney Brett Spain. “It's over.”

Spain claimed in court that UVa tried to avoid embarrassment by blocking the publication of the report.

During the trial, the school claimed exceptions for maintaining attorney-client privilege, legal work product and school records, but failed to mention Hingeley's argument that the documents were part of a criminal case. UVA's own witnesses and attorneys confirmed that the report was prepared by attorneys, not law enforcement, and those attorneys were informed that the documents would be released to the public upon completion.

Spain also argued that Hingeley did not have standing in the case. But the judge disagreed.

The trial was originally planned as a one-day trial and spanned four, mostly non-consecutive days within two months.

In his June 21 deposition, Ryan claimed that UVa could have released the report but decided to exercise its discretion because it believed the third-party review contained errors and omissions. And, Ryan added, the university wanted to show respect to Hingeley, who allegedly convinced him and other university officials that releasing the report could hinder a fair trial for Jones, who is scheduled to go on trial next January. Unlike the public, Jones was granted access to the report.

“The plan was to release the report,” Ryan testified. “Until we had the conversation with Jim Hingeley, that was our plan.”