Enter racist and Forsyth County into a search engine, and Forsyth County Georgia is what you will find. Back in 1912, white supremacists in Forsyth County, Georgia violently expelled all Black residents from the county. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County doesn’t have anything quite that horrendous in its history. But it has ple… More
Despite the fact that Darryl Hunt is an internationally known advocate for justice, there are no memorials in Winston honoring Darryl Eugene Hunt. You won’t find his name on Winston’s new Walk of Fame or his image on any mural. The last substantive piece written on Hunt didn’t exactly do Hunt any favors; it examine… More
Fifteen years ago today a miracle occurred. Darryl Hunt, an innocent man who spent nearly 20 years behind bars for the 1984 rape and murder of Deborah Sykes, was finally released from the Forsyth County jail as a crowd of Hunt’s supporters chanted, “Darryl Hunt is free! Darryl Hunt is free!
It was a joyous occasion. Hunt&#… More
The Winston-Salem Journal’s Michael Hewlett reported earlier today that Kalvin Michael Smith was back behind bars. Smith turned himself into the authorities. He was charged with misdemeanor assault on a female and later released from the Forsyth County Jail on a $2,000 bond.
The news of Kalvin Michael Smith’s brush … More
Recently, Michael Hewlett, the Winston-Salem Journal’s legal reporter wrote an excellent article on Kalvin Michael Smith. Smith endured over 20 years behind bars for a 1995 violent assault and robbery that he didn’t commit. Smith was released last November from the Forsyth Correctional Center on Cherry Street when … More
The Winston-Salem Journal is in a tough spot. Our community’s newspaper of record announced layoffs earlier this month. The Journal has been cutting staff and reducing the amount of content it offers for years. WFDD argues that the Journal and other newspapers are continuing to adjust to digitization. Pre-internet the ne… More
Former Forsyth County D.A. Tom Keith has been named acting Rockingham County District Attorney by Governor Roy Cooper. Rockingham County’s elected D.A., Craig Blitzer is currently under investigation by the SBI. It appears that Blitzer and another D.A. hired their wives for work that they didn’t actually perform.… More
The wheels of justice turn slowly. One can only imagine the mental anguish that Kalvin Michael Smith and his family have endured over the years. Kalvin Michael Smith has been waiting nearly 20 years to regain his freedom. He was convicted in 1997 of brutally assaulting Jill Marker and robbing the former Silk Plant Forest. Today’… More
Unlocking the Truth, MTV’s documentary series examining wrongful convictions has been a shot in the arm for Kalvin Michael Smith’s supporters. I myself am happy to count myself among them. For five weeks now Smith’s supporters have been staying up late on Wednesdays to watch Unlocking the Truth. For the part Un… More
MTV’s Unlocking the Truth debuted two and a half weeks ago. It’s an hour-long docudrama examining wrongful convictions. But unlike Making a Murderer and the podcast Serial, Unlocking the Truth indicts the entire legal system for allowing wrongful convictions to occur and making them almost impossible to overturn.… More
