Families Seek Representation on Tech Panel

Jun 11, 06:09 PM

Current Headlines: By By Bill Mckelway, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.

Jun. 11--A panel reviewing the mental condition of Virginia Tech gunman Hseung-Hui Cho remained frustrated today in its attempts to learn any new information about care Cho may have received in the months preceding his April 16 rampage.

Key witnesses and a 32-page report shed little new light on the degree to which Cho's mental problems may have been addressed.

But experts said it was clear that assessments of Cho in December 2005 in response to reports he was suicidal were inadequate and illustrate problems within the state's overburdened, underfunded system of mental health care.

"Fourteen hours is just not enough time," said panel member Dr. Marcus L. Martin, referring to Cho's brief overnight stay at Saint Albans Behavioral Health Center near Radford.

The preliminary report presented by the state's mental health department inspector general James W. Stewart III also revealed that an independent psychiatrist who examined Cho spent only about 15 minutes with him.

The report also confirmed that the Blacksburg area's lead mental health agency, the New River Valley Community Services Board, did not follow state law when it failed to create a treatment plan for Cho after he was legally found mentally ill. And the report also confirmed that a counseling center at Virginia Tech received word that it was supposed to see Cho when he was released December 15.

A special justice had found that Cho was mentally ill and a danger to himself but ordered him to undergo outpatient treatment.

No one ever monitored compliance, Stewart said.

But Stewart, as well as the head of Virginia Tech's counseling service, Dr. Christopher Flynn, repeatedly refused to say if Cho ever showed up for treatment. Stewart's analysis, though, revealed that the involuntary outpatient treatment order issued by the special justice resulted in Cho voluntarily agreeing to see someone at Tech's counseling center.

Stewart said the visit was arranged in a telephone call in which a hospital staff worker at Saint Albans handed the phone over to Cho and he made an appointment.

"It was voluntary, for a specific time and a specific place," Stewart said.

In the past, Flynn has denied that Virginia Tech was aware of court-ordered treatment, but yesterday he said there is a difference between knowledge of a court rder and a voluntary agreement to attend counseling.

Stewart said Tech was aware of "discharge information."

A lawyer for some relatives of Cho's 32 victims,also, said yesterday that the families are pushing for representation on the panel, fearful that those "who have the biggest stake in this situation are being left out of the process.

"What we are seeing is government watching government and that is an inherent conflict of interest," said Thomas J. Fadoul Jr.

Fadoul criticized panel chief Col. Gerald Massengill for comments he made suggesting the families may be too emotionally involved.

Massengill said the families are free to bring any questions they want to panel members or at public hearings.

But Holly Shepard, one of the as many as 20 families pushing for more involvement, said the families also want an expert, independent reviewer to assess the report produced by Massengill before it becomes public. Contact Bill McKelway (804) 649-6601 or bmckwlway@timesdispatch.com.

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