Richmond judge to review graduation shooting report after CBS 6 joins lawsuit to make it public

RICHMOND, Va. -- A Richmond judge ordered Friday evening that the Richmond School Board must provide him with a copy of an investigation report into the June 2023 graduation shooting.

Judge Reilly Marchant remarked in Friday's court proceedings that it was "very important" to read the investigative report "line by line" to ensure that not "too broad of a brush" was used when the school board withheld it in its entirety.

The school board argued in court Friday that it was unnecessary for the judge to review the report for himself because the document was so obviously privileged.

However, Judge Marchant did not agree.

In an effort to learn more about the deadly shooting that took place outside the Altria Theater, CBS 6 joined the Richmond Times-Dispatch in filing a lawsuit that would force the Richmond School Board to release the investigative report into the shooting. Virginia government transparency activist Josh Stanfield also joined the suit as a petitioner.

Two people were killed in the shooting, including a Huguenot High School graduate who was receiving homebound instruction at time. His graduation took place at the theater shortly before the incident.

Several others were injured.

The Richmond School Board hired the law firm Sands Anderson to investigate the shooting further after multiple board members cited factual inaccuracies with the initial internal report of the incident they received from Superintendent Jason Kamras.

The school board argued that it did not need to release the report to the public, because it was protected by attorney-client privilege.

However, CBS 6 contended that attorney-client privilege should not apply to the situation, since the motivation behind the report was to collect facts about the shooting and Richmond Public Schools' own operations— not to gain legal advice.

CBS 6 investigative reporter Tyler Layne testified during the hearing which began Friday morning in Richmond Circuit Court.

On the witness stand, Layne outlined how CBS 6 has closely followed the shooting and investigation since June 6, and that in no official motions or public discussion of the third-party audit did school board members say they were requesting legal services.

A motion approved on August 14, introduced by board member Dr. Shonda Harris-Muhammed, authorized the superintendent to present "two options of companies" that could complete a third-party investigation of graduation operations, entrance procedures for guests, written statements from staff, and homebound processes. Her motion asked that the company later present "findings" to the school board.

Attorneys for CBS 6 and the newspaper pointed out there was no mention of a request for legal services in the motion or a requirement that a law firm must complete the investigation.

Meanwhile, the school board said they always intended to keep the report confidential since they wanted to address their own civil liabilities and legal issues.

Superintendent Kamras and School Board Chair Stephanie Rizzi were called to the stand Friday on behalf of the school board's counsel.

Both Kamras and Rizzi admitted that they went into the investigation process "assuming" that the report was privileged. Their lawyer stated in court Friday that the facts gathered for the investigation were a basis for a legal analysis.

Kamras talked about how he specifically sought out two options of law firms for the purpose of providing legal services.

However, Sands Anderson's outline of the scope of its investigation did not contain researching or investigating of any legal matter. Rather it outlined collecting factual information, CBS 6's legal counsel argued.

When cross-examined by the newspaper's attorney, neither Kamras nor Rizzi could definitively say that the report, in fact, contained legal advice.

"I cannot recall," Kamras answered when asked that question.

The school board's counsel also called Sands Anderson attorney Pamela O'berry to the witness stand. O'berry stated she figured the report would be privileged because of the information she was provided by Superintendent Kamras about the purpose of the investigation.

She said she thought she'd be investigating civil liabilities and compliance with polices and education law.

When cross-examined, O'berry testified that when the law firm had questions about what topics should be investigated, Kamras referred her back to the "four corners" of Harris-Muhammed's motion.

She said employees who were interviewed as part of the investigation were promised confidentiality to encourage their participation.

CBS 6 spoke with board members Jonathan Young, Kenya Gibson, and Shonda Harris-Muhammed following the hearing. The three board members were subpoenaed to court as possible witnesses but never took the stand.

All three said they supported the release of the report, in opposition to their own legal counsel.

"I didn't expect that the outcome of the audit was going to be rendered through some form of legal advice. That was not the discussion. In my motion and rationale and discussion of the motion, all three parts were clear," Harris-Muhammed said.

"It should be obvious to everyone that the public has a right to know what happened on June the sixth at the Altria Theater... I pray that this court will be able to do what the City of Richmond School Board was unable to do." Jonathan Young said. "It's an audit. This document does not constitute legal counsel."

"Ultimately, it's my understanding that the argument is that the report was legal counsel, and I couldn't disagree with that assertion any more. I can tell you that I supported releasing the audit to the public, because our job as board members is to protect students," said Kenya Gibson. "When my colleague put the motion forward to release the audit, it was about getting facts. It was not about getting legal advice, and there was no discussion about getting legal advice to be frank."

Judge Marchant said he would issue a written opinion no later than Thursday.

This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.

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