For a long time, Virginia law enforcement had full discretion to decide whether or not to release criminal investigative records. Their power, under Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act, made it difficult for the public to access these records and to seek justice — but that all changed today.
Governor Ralph Northam just signed a bill (HB 2004) into law that will provide public access to closed criminal investigative files.
Criminal investigative files are critical to unearthing wrongful convictions. But, historically, they have been withheld because law enforcement had full discretion over whether or not to share the important information in them with the public, including attorneys representing people with innocence claims.
Take the case of of the Norfolk Four — four Navy sailors who were brutally interrogated by police until they falsely confessed to a rape and murder. Detective Robert Glenn Ford, who led the interrogations, was later involved in four other potential wrongful conviction cases, but because of the old law, innocence organizations like the Innocence Project couldn’t access those crucial files to see Ford’s history. Ford was also convicted of federal corruption in 2011.
This is a move in the right direction and we’re so grateful for the work this team has done, along with the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project and the University of Virginia (UVA) Innocence Project.
The Innocence Project exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. www.innocenceproject.org
