The state Department of Corrections should have classified multiple-murder defendant Isaac L. Zamora as being at high risk for committing a violent offense rather than the nonviolent rating he was given on his release from jail in August, a review panel found.

The problem stemmed from a formula error in a risk assessment model developed by the Washington Institute for Public Policy and used by Corrections staff to evaluate Zamora, who was under supervision after a drug possession conviction. Zamora was sentenced to six months of jail time for that conviction and was ordered to get a mental health evaluation and follow any treatment recommendations.

The Institute for Public Policy was created by the Legislature in 1983 and is governed by a board of directors that represents the Legislature, governor and public universities. The institute conducts research and analysis at the direction of its board.

Despite the formula error, the governor-ordered review said that corrections officials followed procedures, created an appropriate “offender supervision plan,” and did not miss any warning signs.

The formula was meant to calculate the results of interview questions and assign one of four risk levels. An error in the calculation resulted in lower risk levels.

Zamora was still considered a high risk to commit a nonviolent crime, which put him at the second-highest level of supervision with corrections.

“There unfortunately were no ‘red flags’ which could have prevented the situation from occurring,” the document reads. “Although Mr. Zamora unquestionably had some history of mental illness, there is nothing to suggest his case required greater scrutiny and supervision than that which the risk assessment score indicated.”

On the night of the shootings, Gov. Chris Gregoire asked Colleen Wilson, president of the Washington Association of Sheriff’s and Police Chiefs, and Art Curtis, prosecuting attorney for Clark County, to lead a committee investigating the work corrections did with Zamora. Corrections has conducted its own internal investigation to be released today.

In response to the study, Gregoire released a statement saying that there were “no warning signs that could have prevented the tragedy.”

Zamora is accused of killing six people and injuring four others in a Sept. 2 rampage in the Alger area. At Skagit County Superior Court appearance Thursday morning, Zamora was ordered to Western State Hospital for a mental health evaluation.

Corrections started using the new risk assessment Aug. 4, and corrections spokesman Chad Lewis said that community corrections officers almost immediately noticed that the assessment was scoring offenders too low.

Corrections notified the Institute for Public Policy, which confirmed the error and fixed the problem Oct. 15.

Before the error was fixed, Zamora was considered a high risk for nonviolent crime, which required him to have at least two face-to-face meetings with a community corrections officer. If he had been classified as a high risk for violent crime, he would have met with the officer at least three times each month.

The document said Zamora was homeless during his supervision, which would have warranted weekly face-to-face meetings with a community corrections officer.

According to corrections documents, Zamora appeared Aug. 11 at a Mount Vernon office to schedule an appointment and twice for actual appointments with his community corrections officer on Aug. 12 and 21. After that, he was scheduled to have meetings on the second and third Wednesdays of September, but not weekly meetings.

During the Aug. 12 meeting, his officer scheduled Zamora for twice-monthly meetings, but did not yet have his risk classification, according to corrections documents.

During the Aug. 12 and 21 meetings, Zamora’s officer worked with him to find, schedule and pay for a court-ordered mental health evaluation. The officer referred Zamora to professionals who could give the evaluation and discussed how he could get funding from the Department of Social and Health Services, but scheduling the appointment and finding money to pay for it ultimately fell to Zamora.

Don Pierce, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, helped with the independent investigation and said Zamora’s misclassification does not change the opinion that corrections handled the case appropriately. He said the committee investigating the case did not take into account what Zamora was scheduled to do in the weeks after Sept. 2, but what corrections did beforehand.

Even if Zamora were homeless and not scheduled for weekly visits, Pierce said the corrections officer had three face-to-face meetings in August and that it had only been 10 days since the last meeting on Sept. 2.

“Ten or 11 days is not unusual or of concern given the fact that there were really no red flags,” Pierce said.

Pierce said that even if Zamora had been considered a high risk for violent crime earlier, he would still be responsible for fulfilling the court-ordered mental health evaluation.

* Aaron Burkhalter can be reached at 360-416-2141 or aburkhalter@skagitvalleyherald .com.