Court Employee Fired Amid Forgery Allegations

The Virginia State Police is investigating allegations that a former employee of Fredericksburg's forged court records.

The forgery, discovered during a court hearing in late September 2011, derailed a costly effort by Virginia resident Brett Knutson to restore his driving privileges. He borrowed hundreds from a friend to buy airfare from Minnesota, where he was living at the time, to Fredericksburg to make his court date.

"It cost me $800 to fly down there," said Knutson in an interview. "I just took the money as a loss. It was a disappointing trip."

Investigation Detailed

Virginia State Police Sgt. F.L. Tyler would only confirm that the state Bureau of Criminal Investigations is investigating matters at the Circuit Court Clerk's Office.

However, according to new , the investigation centers on a single allegedly forged signature on a court order to release Knutson's driving record, criminal and substance abuse history. Small said that investigators are looking into the possibility that former Deputy Court Clerk Renee Snyder forged Knutson's signature on the court order, formally known as an order for evaluation.

Despite the alleged forgery's discovery in September, Snyder remained employed by the clerk's office until this past Tuesday, when Small terminated her employment. This differs from , who chose not to suspend or reprimand Snyder beforehand. Mitchell said that formal charges or definitive evidence would need to be presented before she would have considered such action against any of her employees.

Snyder's official job title was a Deputy Court Clerk II, responsible for assisting the Circuit Court Clerk in a variety of duties. According to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, in 2010 Snyder earned $34,300 plus an additional $20,000 in benefits.

Snyder declined to comment in depth on this article, saying only that she did not expect anything to come of the forgery investigation.

Mitchell declined to comment on Snyder's job performance. Mitchell said she never had to fire anyone in her 21 years as Circuit Court Clerk.

Signature Surprise

Knutson said he never received the order for evaluation to sign. He said that when he flew in for his hearing, he was surprised to see the document bearing his name and other personal information printed by hand in the area reserved for a petitioner's signature. He was blindsided.

"I didn't know about it because they had forged my name on the paper," said Knutson.

According to Mitchell, in charge of the office at the time of Knutson's September hearing, the allegedly forged document was signed off on by Judge Gordon Willis and faxed out to state agencies by Snyder on July 18, 2011. Mitchell said that there is no way of knowing exactly who had access to the Order for Evaluation form before it was sent off.

Knutson thinks that his name was signed to the document only after he returned his unknowingly incomplete application to the court. Knutson and Snyder had no prior contact with each other before this incident.

Small said that there is no indication that Knutson paid for or asked anyone to have his signature added to the document. Small was stumped trying to think of why anyone would forge this court record.

According to Knutson, once questions about the authenticity of the court order were raised, Judge Willis announced he would look into the matter.

Because the investigation involves the internal affairs of the clerk's office, the case is being handled by an outside special prosecutor. A court order entered on October 23 by Fredericksburg Circuit Court Judge Martin Bass appointed Arlington Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Margaret Eastman to head up the prosecution of any charges which might result from the investigation.

Eastman declined to comment for this story.

New Clerk Says Forgery Unacceptable

Small, inheriting an office under state investigation, said he looked into the forgery allegations upon taking office. In interviews, he stressed that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Small also said that forgery would not be tolerated under his administration.

"My staff and I will not do this," said Small. "Our job is record keepers and record takers. We don't create records. Lawyers do that, prosecutors do that, judges do that. We are stewards of records."

Small, who is a former prosecutor for both the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, said he would cooperate with state investigators.

"If there is anything illegal going on in a government office, it needs to be uncovered very swiftly and very quickly," said Small. "This is a government office that affects the public. Government needs to earn the trust of the public."

Forgery is a class 5 felony in Virginia, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $2,500 in fines.

Too Much of a Hassle

With allegations of forgery disrupting his initial petition to restore his driving privileges, Knutson went back to the Circuit Court the next day, Sept. 27, 2011, and re-filed the paperwork to start the process over again. He got a new court hearing date of Dec. 12, 2011, but he ended up canceling that.

Knutson explained that he was only looking to get his driver's license back so he could have transportation while he was job hunting in Minnesota. Knutson has been without a license since the mid 1990's when he was found guilty of driving under the influence and then habitually driving on a suspended license. Since his failed September hearing, Knutson ended up moving back to Northern Virginia and is able to use the Metro system to hunt for jobs.

"It was just too much of a hassle for me and I really don't need it back now," said Knutson. "I haven't had my license for almost 20 years."