Law firm: OSIG parole board report ‘likely biased’

(The Center Square) – A review into a report that alleged the Virginia parole board broke laws and policies when releasing prisoners into parole found the report was likely biased, but made no determination on the accuracy of the report.

A report released by the state’s official watchdog agency, the Office of the State Inspector General, alleges former parole board chair Adrianne Bennett asked colleagues to falsify reports and doctor minutes, which violates state law. The report also alleges the board routinely violated procedure by failing to notify victims and the family of victims before the board releasing an offender and selectively chose witnesses to bolster the offender’s case for parole.

The parole board and Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration denied any wrongdoing and the administration contracted with the law firm Nixon Peabody to launch an independent investigation into the OSIG report. However, the investigation focused on how the OSIG handled the report, rather than focusing on investigating the parole board itself, which received harsh criticism from Republican lawmakers who demanded a more comprehensive investigation into the parole board’s actions.

Nixon Peabody’s investigation determined the lead investigator Jennifer Moschetti was likely biased, based on statements she made about the release of Vincent Martin who was convicted of murdering a police officer. Martin’s release is what prompted the OSIG investigation.

According to the Nixon Peabody report, Moschetti voiced her frustration with Bennet, alleging that she lashed out at the Richmond Police Department and other law enforcement agencies. She then said the only way to determine whether policies and procedures were properly followed was to launch an investigation and an audit. The Nixon Peabody report also said the language of the OSIG report suggested bias against the parole board and theOSIG did not conduct a thorough investigation.

Moschetti was employed with the agency for less than six months before the investigation. Although a more experienced investigator assisted her, Nixon Peabody’s report said a person with more experience should have led the investigation. The report also claimed there were deficiencies in the report, such as failing to define what specific materials OSIG needed from the parole board and only interviewing seven people without making an effort to interview current Parole Board Chair Tonya Chapman.

However, Nixon Peabody said OSIG conducted a thorough editing process of its report and was thorough in identifying the proper laws and procedures that must be followed. Although the law firm said the OSIG should have recognized the bias and addressed it, the law firm did not make any determination on whether anything in the report was inaccurate.

Upon the release of the Nixon Peabody report, Republican lawmakers criticized the Northam administration for only launching a narrow report into the alleged bias without thoroughly examining whether the parole board violated laws and procedures.

“House Democrats needed a way to discredit the plethora of damning Office of State Inspector General reports into the Parole Board, but they couldn’t risk turning over too many stones to do it,” House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Woodstock, said in a statement. “That’s why today’s report doesn’t reflect a critical look at the Parole Board, but rather scrutiny of OSIG’s investigation into the potentially illegal activity at the Parole Board. Today’s report is merely [a] campaign document.”

Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham, said the Northam administration narrowed the scope of the Nixon Peabody investigation because OSIG’s report got it right.

“This report used 153 pages to attempt to make the Office of the State Inspector General (OSIG) the scapegoat in the continuing Parole Board scandal,” Obenshain said. “Rife with gratuitous and inconsequential observations, the report even fails in that mission. It doesn’t even attempt to claim that any of OSIG’s conclusions or findings in its investigation of the Parole Board were inaccurate or wrong.”

The Nixon Peabody investigation cost the state $250,000.

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