Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

Re: Tarasoff and Va Tech Shootings

In states that have adopted the Tarasoff rule (offhand I don't know whether Virginia is one of them) the answer would depend upon what the shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, said to his psychiatrist or counselor.

That someone employed by the University was treating Cho would not be enough to make the University liable for his actions. But if he said things during his sessions which should have alerted a reasonable person to the danger that he posed, the result might be different.

The news coverage that I have read says that Cho hardly ever spoke to anyone. There is no reason at this point to presume that he was so open with his caregivers as to reveal his plans -- assuming that he had any plans in the first place.

Re: Tarasoff and Va Tech Shootings

Virginia courts are tough rooms for plaintiffs' lawyers generally.

Among the legal theories one could think of for suing the deep-pocketed University, instead of the insolvent estate of the shooter, are: Tarasoff; the alleged failure to warn the student population after the first incident; and so on. But I just don't see the plaintiffs getting anywhere.