Editorial: Thorough review of parole board events needed dailypress.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailypress.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Hey, look who wants a special session now!
Republicans in the House of Delegates â who thought the Virginia General Assemblyâs most recent special sessions were a waste of time â want the legislature reconvened to deal with the latest revelations in the parole board scandal.
You know, that juicy audiotape of the meeting that Gov. Ralph Northamâs top staff had with the inspector general who was investigating irregularities in how the parole board was releasing prisoners â those irregularities being violations of both law and policy.
Reporters Mark Bowes and Patrick Wilson of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, who obtained a copy of this audiotape, write that the recording âconflicts with the governorâs previous account that his team did not intimidate [the inspector general] and his staff.â
Senior staff members in Gov. Ralph Northamâs administration questioned the power of Virginiaâs watchdog agency to investigate the Virginia Parole Board during an ongoing investigation and reprimanded Inspector General Michael Westfall for how many investigations his office was conducting during a tense meeting last summer.
A recording of the meeting obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch conflicts with the governorâs previous account that his team did not intimidate Westfall and his staff.
The 71-minute recording of the Aug. 14 meeting also shows that Northamâs chief of staff asked Westfall if the Office of the State Inspector General planned to investigate Republican lawmakers for releasing to the press a copy of an OSIG report that concluded the parole board violated state law and policies in releasing Vincent Martin, who was sentenced in 1980 to life in prison for killing a Richmond police officer.
Widow of murdered man talks about dealing with the Virginia parole board
LYNCHBURG â When sheâs doing anything, like driving around town or alone with her thoughts, Judy Smith thinks of the night she saw her husband die.
They drove through a particular neighborhood in Lynchburg the day of his death and stopped at a drugstore. She thinks of it every time she drives through that neighborhood. Same goes for a gas station near Danville. Every time the family drives by, they think of stopping there with Clifford Smith on the last day of his life.
In April 1975, at their apartment in Lynchburg, a man awaiting trial for burglary fatally shot Clifford in the living room after the family ended their prayers and Judy was putting their two boys to bed.
This widow kept better records than the Virginia Parole Board Her family thinks it stopped a killer from going free roanoke.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from roanoke.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.