JournalNow Edition Winston-Salem, N.C. November 21-25, 2004

 

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Panel may weigh case

Group led by mayor to consider Smith's conviction in attack

By Victoria Cherrie

JOURNAL REPORTER

WINSTON-SALEM

A committee formed to deal with the mistrust of local police and the criminal-justice system may discuss the case of Kalvin Michael Smith, who was charged and convicted in the 1995 attack on Jill Marker at an artificial-plant store in Winston-Salem, members said yesterday.

The Winston-Salem Journal re-examined the 1995 attack, the police investigation of the crime, the prosecution and conviction in a five-part series that concluded Thursday. The series raised questions about the tactics used by police during the investigation, the lack of physical evidence and the victim's ability to remember the attack despite her severe injuries.

"There certainly appears to be mountains of reasonable doubt," said the Rev. Carlton Eversley of Dellabrook Presbyterian Church. "This will hopefully mute those who said Darryl Hunt's case was isolated. Wrongful convictions happen more often than people would like to believe, and they often happen to black men."

Eversley is a member of the Committee on Racial Healing formed by Mayor Allen Joines last year after Darryl Hunt, a black man, was exonerated in the 1984 rape and murder of Deborah Sykes, a white woman.

Hunt served 18 years in prison after being convicted twice of murder, despite questionable police tactics through three investigations. Hunt was also denied a third trial despite the fact that DNA evidence showed in 1994 that he had not been the person who raped Sykes.

His exoneration came about when a DNA comparison test last year led authorities to a new suspect, who has since been charged with murder.

Joines' 14-member committee has focused its discussions and two public forums on racism, the mistrust by black residents of the police and criminal-justice system, and a need for white residents to understand that those issues exist.

The committee is dealing with the lingering question of whether other innocent people are in prison.

Members are asking whether the case of Smith could be one of them.

"We can't just assume the system works every time," said Sylvia Oberle, a committee member who is the executive director of Winston-Salem State University's Center for Community Safety. "I thought this series raised good questions once again. I hope we don't just confine our questions to the Darryl Hunt case."

Joines' committee, which has been working with the Human Relations Commission, plans to hold several more forums next year, said Linda Jackson-Barnes, a committee member who is an aide to the mayor.

In addition to those meetings, workshops are being held to teach participants ways to dismantle ra-cism by understanding what it is, learning how to deal with it, and spreading that knowledge to others.

"Certainly, I think this (the Smith case) indicates that what we're doing is important," Joines said.

• Victoria Cherrie can be reached at 727-7283 or at atvcherrie@wsjournal.com

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