Judge approves VT settlement

WSLS News Staff & Associated Press
Published: June 17, 2008

Original story 4:43 p.m., Updated at 8:08 p.m.

Click here to read the full motion to approve the settlement

Click here to read what each family signed

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A judge on Tuesday approved an $11 million state settlement with families of most of the victims in last year’s Virginia Tech slayings that will avoid a court battle over whether anyone but the gunman was to blame.
    Families of 24 victims - out of 32 killed by Seung-Hui Cho - will be compensated under the settlement approved by Circuit Court Judge Theodore J. Markow.
    Four families agreed to the settlement, but were not prepared to go before the judge Tuesday. Four other families did not participate: Two have filed notices of lawsuits, and two did not file claims.
    The settlement also covers 18 people injured, but their cases did not require court approval.
    “The amount the families are receiving does nothing to offset or reduce the pain that they will forever suffer,“ said Douglas Fierberg, an attorney representing many of the families.
    Peter Grenier, another family attorney, called the settlement “the most acceptable and most reasonable outcome we could expect” considering Virginia’s $100,000 limit on liability in such cases.
    Grenier praised the state for giving victims’ attorneys unfettered access to a wide array of investigative reports and other documents related to the shootings. Some showed critical failures on behalf of the university, he said.

Click here to listen to the lawyer for the VT victims’ families

    “We are professionals and we represent the Commonwealth’s interests to the best of our abilities,“ said Chief Deputy Attorney General William C. Mims. “But first we are mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, neighbors and friends. We cannot possibly imagine the losses they’ve suffered.“

Click here to listen to Mims’ full statement

    Holly Sherman, whose daughter Leslie was killed, said in an e-mail that she was relieved “that this is moving along and, in a large way, ending.“
    But Roger O’Dell, whose son Derek was injured, thought the settlement was inadequate.
    “Morally speaking, the nature of the crime and the magnitude of its consequences call for much more,“ he said in an e-mail.
    Under the settlement, seriously injured victims will have their health care needs covered for life. Representatives of each of those killed will receive $100,000. Funds also were set aside for the injured, with individuals eligible to receive up to $100,000 apiece.
    Families of those killed can seek additional money from a $1.9 million hardship fund, and more money was set aside for attorneys’ fees and a fund for charities.
    The settlement also will give the injured and victims’ families a chance to meet with the governor and university officials several times to discuss the mass shootings and changes on campus since then.  By the end of this year, Governor Kaine’s office plans to give the families a report detailing administrative and legislative changes since the tragedy.
    Virginia Tech must also set up and archive.  That archive must include all internal e-mails about April 16th, information about Cho, police reports, and eight boxes worht of documents pertaining to the April 16th investigation.
    University officials have been criticized for waiting about two hours before informing students and employees about the first dormitory shootings, which police initially thought were an act of domestic violence.
    By accepting the proposal, family members gave up the right to sue the state government, the university, the local governments serving Virginia Tech and the community services board that provides mental-health services in the area.
    Last October, the families and surviving victims received payments ranging from $11,500 to $208,000 from the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, set up in the days after the shootings to handle donations that poured into the school. That fund will remain open for contributions to scholarships for five years.