The Virginia State Crime Commission nominated and approved members of a panel that are set to review more than 300 cases connected to former state forensic scientist Mary Jane Burton, whose work at the crime lab has been called into question.
Additional cases could be identified for reassessment.
Tracy Roe, the commission’s senior research analyst, outlined the panel’s purview.
“The review panel must determine, if possible, whether Ms. Burton engaged in a pattern of misconduct and evaluate the accuracy of her testing, analysis and testimony,” she said. “It is important to note that the review panel is not determining actual innocence on any individual case — as actual innocence is a separate court proceeding.”
People who are currently incarcerated as a result of trials Burton was involved in will be prioritized.
Roe added that collecting records has been difficult. Some of the records are more than 40 years old, she said, while others simply can’t be located or have been destroyed in compliance with state retention policies.
Reporting by independent journalist Tessa Kramer, which questioned Burton’s practices at the state crime lab between 1973 and 1988, was followed by a state bill directing the reassessment of the serologist's work. Additional legislation later defined how the review panel should be set up and what professional backgrounds its membership should be drawn from.
Thursday’s meeting at the General Assembly Building in Richmond follows the commission earlier this year naming eight executed men whose cases are being reviewed because of Burton’s involvement in their trials.
Del. Patrick Hope — who along with Sen. Mark Peake — was selected by commission chairperson Del. Charnielle Herring to make nominations for the review panel — said multiple candidates who met legislative requirements applied to serve.
Members appointed to the seven-person panel include: Megan Clark, Prince Edward County commonwealth’s attorney; Althea Mease, a Portsmouth public defender; Seth Weston, a criminal defense attorney; Michael Doucette, a retired circuit court judge; Keith Peterson, an independent serologist based in California; Suzanne Kerney-Quillen, Virginia assistant attorney general; and Shawn Armbrust, executive director of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project.
“Additionally, because we anticipate that workload will be heavy, we’ve also appointed some alternates, as well, to serve in the same capacity,” Hope said.
The nominations — and those alternates — were unanimously approved.
The commission will next meet on Oct. 22 and Nov. 5.