Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / June 27, 1985, edition 1 / Page 5
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June 27, 1985 Page A5 1HE FORUM More opinions, columns and features. fhe Darryl Hunt trial: The verdict is in, but questions still linger He recent attacks made on the idfjssional and personal con- of Alderman Larry D. Little the Deborah Sykes (iitder trial by District Attorney jonald Tisdale and two letter to the Winston-Salem 'grnal are remarkable only in jai their insensitivity was sur- j5sed by their callousness. Idyestimation, and the estima- j„of thousands of people in the ilii and white communities of (inston-Salem, is, that Little’s ijliavior has been extremely jBpetent, if not heroic. As the jjtor of the church that Alder- ,an Little attends, I’m quite pro- jjofhim for three basic reasons, first is the sanctity of human It, Larry Little was the first and lUSt pronounced exponent of (lis principle which all Christians fofess. That is to say, the life of Darryl Eugene Hunt, though not hd in a style which most of us (ould hold up as ideal, is still acted in the eyes of God, who icated us all. Where were those * the so-called “religious right ling,” the alleged “Moral Ma jority” and others who say they leso urgently “pro-life” when it fflines to protecting fetuses in iBobut who,seem blithely un- (oncerned about the safeguar- ling of black male life after it has Ivcd 19 or 20 years? Second, but most importantly, fcequity of human life. Little’s ivestigation was crucial in rais- ij the following questions and making the following points: Can It conceive of any possible icenario in which a white man ac- *ed of rape and murder of a Hack woman would be tried in font of a jury of 11 blacks and one white? Was it actually possi- He for this jury to presume Hint’s innocence and put the tarden of proof on the prosecu- ion? If a black woman were the lictim and a white man the accus- id, would the district attorney lave gone to trial with absolutely 10 physical evidence — no mat- tlingblood or semen samples, no THE GUEST COLUMN By REV. CARLTON A.G. EVERSLEY Larry Little fingerprints, fingernails or hair samples, no murder weapon, no bloody clothes or muddy clothes or grassy clothes, etc.? How credible are the “witnesses” that Assistant District Attorney Richard Lyle cited as the sum total of the state’s “case” against Darryl Eugene Hunt? First, Thomas Murphy, the “ex” Ku Klux Klansman, had between 1.5 and 2.5 seconds on the morning of Friday, Aug. 10, to see half a black man’s face and half a white woman’s face. He didn’t recognize the woman as Deborah Sykes, whom he’d seen each morning Monday through Thursday. He did note to a co worker that morning that he wondered what a pretty white woman was doing with a black man and inquired about the nature of their possible offspring. It now seems he can positively identify Darryl Hunt, though he’d never seen him before in his life. Most upsetting of all is the state’s featuring of Johnny Gray as its “chief witness” and the on ly eyewitness to the actual murder. Gray’s real name is Johnny McConnell. On Aug. 10 he called the police at 6:53 a.m. and said, “My name is Sammy Mitchell, I want to report an acci dent.” No name is requested when calling the police in such a situation. McConnell/Gray testified that he knew no one named Sammy Mitchell, didn’t know Sammy Mitchell is Darryl Hunt’s best friend and just made up the name Sammy Mitchell because he didn’t want to get in volved. In fact he did not get in volved by revealing his “true” identity to the police until two weeks after the murder, at which time a reward of over $12,000 was being offered. Gray says he saw a man 6 feet 2 or 6 feet 3 in ches tall and weighing between 170 and 175 pounds beating a woman in the face. There were no facial bruises on Ms. Sykes’ body. He testified that he didn’t see a murder weapon, though she was stabbed at least 15 times. Darryl Hunt is 5 feet 10 inches tall, 145 pounds. Gray’s ex girlfriend testified that he told her that day that he didn’t know if the attacker was black or white. His ex-housemate testified that Gray told him he didn’t see who made the attack. Gray also identified for the police a man named Terry Thomas as the killer; Thomas is closer to Gray’s description. For tunately for Mr. Thomas, he was in jail at the time of Ms. Sykes’ murder. Gray, in a lineup where Darryl Hunt was No. 4, was told to write the number of the murderer. He wrote “1-4.” Detective J.I. Dalton testified that Gray told him he meant by this that “the No. 1 one suspect is No. 4.” Gray did not identify any “No. 2, 3 or 4 suspects;” he never in tended to do so, nor was he asked to. His girlfriend testified in court that Gray told her that he wasn’t sure whether the person he thought was the murderer was No. 1, a light-skinned black man, or Hunt, who is dark-skinned. Gray, charged with felony rob bery, was in jail under a $50,000 bond for most of the Hunt trial. After he testified, before the trial ended, he was released on his own recognizance. Dalton testified that Gray had been given at least $200 by the police before the trial. Is this the kind of evidence that should be used to snatch life or liberty permanently away from another human be ing? The state’s third “witness” was Roger Weaver, the Hyatt House employee who believes he saw Hunt that morning and that Hunt left bloody paper towels and stains in the bathroom. Weaver did not mention this to the police immediately! He asked a good friend to reconstruct events in his (Weaver’s) mind. Weaver did not approach the authorities until late September or early October. He did not identify Darryl Hunt in a lineup statements and is telling the truth now when her sworn testimony is that Hunt is innocent. We choose to believe the psychiatric evalua tion of Crawford, which says that she is unable to tell the truth con sistently about anything and should therefore be summarily discounted as any kind of witness for either side. Again we must ask whether it is fair to take away Darryl Hunt’s personal freedom for life on the “strength” of such conflicting testimony from a girl with the personal problems Craw'ford has. That is the basic summation of The People of N.C. vs. Darryl Eugene Hunt, which Larry Little has played such a pivotal role in uncovering. Finally, there’s the brevity of life. Darryl Hunt’s life - all of our lives - is too short to spend all, half or any part of it im prisoned for a crime he did not commit. Little’s dedication to preventing such an outcome should be commended, not con demned. In closing, I must address some “... The God of justice will not sleep while the innocent are imprisoned and the arrogant remain in office. ” until May 13, after Hunt’s name and face had been splashed all over local newspapers and televi sion screens. Dalton testified that the reason for this delay was due to the fact that he and Weaver work two different shifts. Fourth, the state alleges that Margaret Marie Crawford, Hunt’s 14-year-old white ex girlfriend, who’s been a pro stitute since age 11, signed statements that might tend to im ply Hunt’s involvement or knowledge of the crime. She says that the police asked for a sample of her signature and then attach ed the statements above it. Contrary to Lyle’s closing argument, people defending Hunt don’t want to believe Crawford lied if she signed these questions to District Attorney Tisdale and the recent Journal letter writers. Why didn’t Tisdale deny Hunt’s allegation that the district attorney offered him $12,000 to implicate Sammy Mit chell? Did Tisdale offer Hunt a plea bargain of second-degree murder during the jury’s deliberation of the verdict? Does anyone believe Johnny Gray/Mc Connell just happened to make up the name Sammy Mitchell, which is what brought Darryl Hunt into the picture in the first place? Does anyone believe Dalton’s report of Gray saying that “1-4” means “the No. 1 suspect is No. 4?” Why did Dalton attempt to deny that Gray had identified Terry Thomas as the murderer? Is there no “reasonable doubt” that Darryl Eugene Hunt murdered Deborah Brotherton Sykes on Aug. 10, 1984? Further, and perhaps more im portantly, do you believe black people will sit idly by while a white-dominated criminal justice system snatches any ol’ body to satisfy a societal need for vengeance for a brutal crime? Do you mistakenly believe there are no white people of good will who will stand up for truth no matter what the price in popularity? Do you mistakenly believe you can intimidate, harass, silence or discredit Alderman Little in the eyes of the black community, which esteems him as a leader without peer and a fighter for positive things without equal? Are you so foolish as not to realize you only serve to heighten Little’s visibility and credibility amongst his constituency, in cluding Hunt as an individual and thousands of blacks and whites of good will philosophical ly; by your snide and crude tac tics? Does the level of smugness within your office rise to the height of feeling above investiga tion yourself? And finally, do you have no faith that the God of justice will not sleep while the innocent are imprisoned and the arrogant re main in office? The Rev. Carlton A.G. Eversley is the pastor of Dellabrook Presbyterian Church in Winston- Salem. FROM MY POINT OF VIEW By Allen Johnson Allen Johnson is on vaca tion getting other points of view. His column will appear again on this page next week. Send Our City Home With a Friend. We’re lucky to live in a special place like Winston- Salem. We have more live entertainment and art exhibits than most cities three or four times our size. There’s Stevens Center, North Carolina School of the Arts, Reynolda House, Southeastern Center For Contem porary Art, and more artistic and creative outlets than could ever be mentioned in one single ad. We have the historic German Moravian town. Old Salem. We can golf, ride horseback, swim, picnic, watch polo or ride paddleboats at a place Better Homes and Gardens calls one of the best vacation surprises in the South, Thnglewood Park. We have so much to offer to the people who come here. Share Winston-Salem with your Mends, relatives, groups or organizations. Whether it’s your uncle from Washington, D.C., the Greater Jacksonville Glee Club, or candle-making conventioneers from California — invite them to Winston-Salem. Once they get here, they’ll realize what we’ve known all along. You really can \2ke home something special from Winston-Salem. WinStOIl-Salem Take Ffome Something Special ^^Send for your free “Thke Home Something Special” — Visitor Kit. Write the Convention and Visitors Bureau, Greater Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce, 610 Coliseum Drive, P.O. Box 1408, Winston-Skem, NC 27102-1408; or call 725-2361. Name_ Address. City . State. . Zip. Phone. I I I I I iJ
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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June 27, 1985, edition 1
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