The Virginia State Crime Commission will determine how and when to notify the families of eight individuals executed by the Commonwealth whose trials involved Mary Jane Burton, the late state forensic scientist who allegedly mishandled evidence and offered inaccurate court testimony.
Del. Charniele Herring, the crime commission’s Democratic chairperson, said she’d brought up the issue previously.
“This is something that I raised at another body's meeting, that the families need notification,” Herring said during a Tuesday commission meeting. “We need to decide … what we can do for those families, because they're part of this project, this sort of study and investigation. They need to be notified as well.”
Sen. Scott Surovell, the commission’s Democratic vice chairperson, added that the families “deserve some answers.”
Herring also mentioned notifying the families of 408 deceased people whose cases were tied to Burton’s work.
State panels have received regular updates on Burton’s work following 2024 legislation that set up the case review process, which seeks to determine how many people were potentially affected by the late serologist’s work. The inquiry into possible problems around Burton’s conduct came to light through the reporting of journalist Tessa Kramer in 2023.
A bill passed during the 2025 General Assembly session directed the crime commission to establish a panel that would explore convictions Burton was involved with that were identified by staff. It also directed the prioritization of cases where people remain incarcerated by the state. Individuals in state custody whose convictions were in some way connected to Burton previously were notified of the review.
Herring appointed Del. Patrick Hope and Sen. Mark Peake — both members of the commission — to serve on a sub-committee that will select the review panel. They’re expected to meet in December to formalize the application process for the group and are expected to begin interviews in spring 2026.
The panel, which doesn’t have the authority to determine innocence, will consist of seven members — including a retired circuit court judge, a practicing criminal defense attorney, a representative of the Attorney General’s office and the executive director of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, among others.
Christina Barnes Arrington — a senior methodologist with the commission — said staff had pinpointed 314 cases to be individually reviewed by the panel when it’s established, though ”additional cases will likely be identified as the case file review is finalized.”
Arrington also updated the commission on progress that’s been made.
“When we last presented to you in October of 2024, we had reviewed around 400 cases or around 5% of Ms. Burton's work,” she said. “Now, we are pleased to report we've completed reviewing 85% of all known cases worked by Ms. Burton.”
Arrington added that about 1,200 of more than 7,500 cases that Burton was involved between 1973 and 1988 remain to be reviewed.
“I imagine this will be a pretty lengthy process,” Kristen J. Howard, executive director of the commission, said during the meeting.
In an email, Hope, who did not attend the commission’s most recent meeting, said the review likely wouldn’t be concluded by the end of Fiscal Year 2026 and that additional funding wouldn’t be necessary.
The review was allocated about $3.6 million over two years as part of the state’s 2024 budget. In the past, some post-conviction DNA testing conducted by Virginia has been supported through federal grants.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.