Collegiate Times

Gov. Tim Kaine is "not ruling anything out" in terms of editing the report compiled in 2007 by the Governor's Review Panel.

Spokesperson Michael Kelly said Kaine wants to evaluate the information and corrections sent by family members before making a final judgment on reconvening the Governor's Review Panel.

Many families of April 16 victims expressed displeasure that the panel would not be reconvened upon receiving an e-mail from the governor's office Monday.

The e-mail, sent by Mark Rubin of Kaine's counsel, outlined the plan to begin proposed revisions to the report after Aug. 19, when the counsel requests all revision suggestions and corrections.

"While we would not rule out inviting willing members of the Panel to review proposed revisions to report, we are sensitive that there are families who expressly do not want to reconvene the Panel," the e-mail said.

The e-mail also said "the recently recovered medical records for Seung Hui Cho will certainly be a part of that review."

Kaine's office clarified that the governor has not decided against reconvening the panel. He will wait until after compiling proposed corrections from family members and university officials.

Family members were originally instructed to send corrections when they were given access to Virginia Tech's document archive.

The first e-mail, sent on Dec. 31, 2008 by former legal counsel Larry Roberts, said suggestions for a revised report were due in March of 2009, at which point they would be evaluated and added to the report.

However, that was delayed for unknown reasons and the next e-mail, sent on July 7 by Kaine assistant Kate Paris, set Aug. 19 as the deadline for submission of possible corrections.

The spokesperson said the top priority is making sure the factual material in the panel's report is accurate.

Information systems company TriData, which aided in creating the original report, will compile the proposed corrections.

Kaine has said he is not inclined to reconvene the panel, as the independent company will work with the state to evaluate corrections sent by family members of victims and university personnel.

After evaluating that information, Kaine will make a final decision on the panel's future.

Kelly said he did not know if Kaine had contacted any of the panel members to gauge their interest in reconvening, but said any conversations Kaine had with panel members would remain a private matter.