A Richmond judge will take a look at two government-issued cell phones to help settle a bitter legal dispute over whether the city has or hasn’t turned over all text messages relevant to the 2024 firing of former public records official Connie Clay.
Attorneys for Clay — who sued the city last year after she was fired from her role as Richmond’s Freedom of Information Act officer — argued in court Monday that they have reason to believe there are some text messages still missing from the evidence the city has had to produce for the lawsuit.
“We need to know what is still on those phones and what isn’t,” said Sarah Robb, an employment lawyer representing Clay.
An outside lawyer representing the city and former city spokeswoman Petula Burks disputed that claim, calling the issue a “red herring” and insisting the city has already given Clay’s lawyers everything there is to give.
“We went through the cell phones,” said Jimmy Robinson, an attorney with the Ogletree Deakins law firm hired to represent the city in the Clay case. “We didn’t see the breaks that they’re talking about.”
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As the two sides stopped just short of accusing each other of spreading falsehoods, Judge Claire Cardwell said she would take it upon herself to review the work phones of Clay and Burks, Clay’s former boss.
“The problem is I don’t know what, if anything, has been deleted,” Cardwell said.
It’s not yet clear if any...
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