A special prosecutor has been appointed to review a whistleblower report involving Martinsville city government, Commonwealth’s Attorney Andrew Hall said Wednesday.
Hall said Martinsville Circuit Court Judge G. Carter Greer signed the order. He added that the prosecutor is working with someone on the Virginia State Police — “someone who specializes in just this type of activity,” Hall said, as part of the review.
Hall said the city’s attorney, Sands Anderson, told him during a phone call that the report indicated possible criminal activity. But Hall stressed that he must rely on evidence, not secondhand accounts.
“Because I can’t go to any court, any kind of judge, or any kind of jury, or anybody, or law enforcement, and say, ‘because Sands Anderson said so.’ That’s not going to cut” it, Hall said, adding he must have evidence.
Hall declined to identify the prosecutor, saying the paperwork remains under seal.
Hall noted that after closed session on Thursday, August 7, city council Martinsville terminated the employment contract of Aretha Ferrell-Benavides, who had been serving as the city manager. The council also asked the law firm of Sands Anderson to turn over its investigation to the Martinsville Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office.
In a release, Hall said he and his colleagues met virtually with Sands Anderson attorneys on August 18. “They confirmed that they had created a report based on their investigation. We requested a copy of the report and any evidence that it was based on. Sands Anderson stated that they would need further clarification” from city council.
The council approved a second vote on August 26, directing its attorney to “release to the Commonwealth’s Attorney printed versions of the report that deal with any criminal activity so that the Commonwealth’s Attorney may take action as necessary.
“We subsequently received a heavily redacted report prepared by Sands Anderson. We again requested that we receive the unredacted report and any evidence that it was based on,” Hall said. However, that has not been provided as of Wednesday.
Hall added his office tried to gather information from other sources, and even recreate portions of the report based on some items that were attached to the information provided to his office. Those efforts included conducting interviews, and amassing more than 1,000 pages of information.
“All evidence that we have obtained through our preliminary investigation will be turned over to a special prosecutor,” Hall said in a release last week.
Vice Mayor Kathy Lawson on Tuesday again expressed concerns about employees interviewed for the report and their right to privacy. She added that Hall “has obtained information and is asking the judge for a special prosecutor.”
In an email to Stephen Durbin of Sands Anderson and media outlets, Councilman Aaron Rawls wrote that Hall’s receipt of the heavily redacted report “is in direct contradiction to the motion I made that was passed unanimously by Council. The motion I made was to provide ‘… versions of the report that deal with ANY criminal activity…’
“The intent is to release, fully, all sections that address potential or actual criminal behavior. Bribery. Conflict of interest. Misuse of public funds. ALL of it and the associated context,” Rawls said. “It sounds like we will need to bring this back, yet again, to our next council meeting. I want to be very clear that my patience for playing word games is exhausted.
“Please provide me with whatever motion language you deem required to release this information to the Commonwealth Attorney so that we can move on,” Rawls wrote. “Also, let’s get ahead of the forensic audit and prepare language for that as well.”
Mayor LC Jones did not return a call for comment.
