Students urge Cooper to free Kalvin Michael Smith
BY TEVIN ST1NSON
THE CHRONICLE
Chants of "Free Kalvin Smith Now"
echoed from every corner of the Dillard
Auditorium in the Anderson Center last
Thursday evening when more than 150
students and other members of the com
munity came together to show their sup
port for Kalvin Michael Smith.
Smith is serving a 29-year sentence for
the brutal assault of Jill Maker at the Silk
Plant Forest store in December 1977 that
left her with brain damage and blindness,
even though Smith was reportedly
nowhere near the store at the time. Another
suspect with a violent history who had
been stalking Marker had been in the shop
shortly before the incident occurred.
During the rally students, community
activists', and other supporters called for
N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper to
release Smith. Wake Forest student
Conine Sugino noted that Cooper, who is
currently running for governor, has said
there is noting he can do.
"We have an innocent black man sit
ting in jail and somehow Cooper mysteri
ously doesn't have the power to do any
thing," she continued. "It isn't right and
we can't just sit back and let this happen."
President of the Ministers Conference
of Winston-Salem and Vicinity Bishop
Todd Fulton said he stands in solidarity
with those who are standing solid for jus
tice. Fulton said he will continue to push
Cooper and others to do the right thing.
"I am extited about the energy that has
surrounded Kalvin Michael Smith and his
freedom," he said. "We're going to keep
pushing every system that we know."
Darryl Hunt, who served 19 years
behind bars for a murder he did not com
mit in the 1980s, addressed the crowd as
well. Hunt told the students to demand that
Photo by Tevin Stinson
Dozens of students from Winston
Salem State University (WSSU), Wake
Forest University and Salem College
have joined forces to support Kalvin
Michael Smith on Thursday, Feb. 18.
justice be served. He also discussed racial
bias within the justice system.
"Justice has toeome down," said Hunt.
"We have to demand justice because what
has happened to Kalvin can happen to any
one of you."
A video was also played during the
rally of Smith. Smith said he is grateful for
everything everyone has done to help him.
Although he hopes justice is served in his
own case, he mentioned it is bigger than
him. He said it's about changing a justice
system that has failed so many people in
the African American community.
Following the playing of the video.
Smith's father Gus Dark said he will con
tinue to stand by his son. He also men
tioned he has a strong feeling that every
thing is going to be all right.
"I will continue to stand with Kalvin
and I thank you all for standing with him
as well," said Dark. "I will stand with him
until I die or he comes home."
AG
from page A1
across the country, leading
the Charlotte office, and
even heading up FBI oper
ations in Iraq. He is also
credited with dismantling a
Hezbollah terror cell in
Charlotte, and capturing
domestic terrorist Eric
Robert Rudolph. In 2004,
he was appointed assistant
FBI director for the
Criminal Investigative
Division. Swecker retired
from the FBI in July 2006.
In an interview with
The Chronicle Sunday, the
former FBI assistant direc
tor said he was retained by
the SPFTC years ago to
review the Winston-Salem
police investigation into
the brutal December 1995
beating of then 33-year-old .
Jill Marker, a manager at
the now defunct Silk Plant
Forest Shop off Silas Creek
Parkway.
Ms. Marker had been
beaten by an unknown
assailant in the shop, sus
taining serious brain trau
ma she is still being treated
for today. Winston-Salem
police initially suspected a
white male with a history
of domestic violence, but
inexplicably dropped their
probe of him, and instead
arrested Kalvin Michael
Smith.black male who
supporters say was
nowhere near the Silk Plant
Forest Shop the night of the
assault.
Smith was convicted
for the crime in 1997, even
though Forsyth County
prosecutors allegedly had
exculpatory evidence they
did not turn over at trial.
Smith's attorneys charge,
in addition to "false evi
dence" and tainted testimo;
ny by investigators. The
state attorney general's
office ultimately took over
the case per the numerous
appeals because of alleged
conflicts of interest in the
Forsyth district attorney's
office.
The case was reviewed
by a Winston-Salem City
Council committee and by
Chris Swecker after he was
hired by the SPFTC, with
all coming to the same con
clusion - the investigation
that fingered Kalvin Smith
for the crime was badly
flawed.
"... [D]ue to the flawed
nature of the original inves
tigation, only a new trial
that considers the full
record and evidence not
available, misrepresented
or omitted in the original
trial, will provide the full
measure of justice that the
community of Winston
Salem and every accused
defendant deserves"
Alter lb montns.
Swecker issued his report
on the case in 2012. He
knew the attorney general's
office well. He had been
retained by it to do three
separate-reports, including
one on shortcomings in the
State Bureau of
Investigation crime lab
several years ago, which
proved that evidence in
several criminal cases had
been mishandled. So he
certainly had established
professional contact with
it.
Two weeks ago,
Swecker says he was asked
by email by a SPFTC offi
cial whether he had spoken
with anyone in the state
attorney general's office
about the report, and he
replied, "Not that I recall."
SPFTC subsequently sent
out a press release blasting
Attorney General Cooper
and his office for not dis
cussing Swecker's report
with him.
Swecker then says he
got a call from Julia White,
chief of staff to Attorney
General Cooper, reminding
him of a telephone conver
sation they had "right after
the report came out" in
2012. Swecker said he
"had a lot of dealings with
Julia White and she's a per
son of integrity. If she says
we spoke, I have to defer to
her memory, because I
spoke to a lot of people
about the report after it
came out and I don't doubt
that we had a conversation
over the phone about it."
Swecker says he has no
"independent" memory of
the call, nor does he have
any notes to accurately por
tray it.
The SPFTC says it had
sent the report to the attor
ney general's office when it
was issued, but couldn't get
anyone there to commit to
formally meet- with
Swecker to discuss it in
detail.
But here's where
Swecker and the state attor
ney general's office's ver
sions diverge. Swecker told
The Chronicle that if he did
have a telephone conversa
tion with Julia White of the
attorney general's office,
" ... it wasn't a long
one."
Later in the conversa
tion, Swecker added that "
I'd be surprised if it was
longer than 15 minutes."
Swecker also made
clear that he's had "... no
in-person meetings" about
the report with the attorney
general's office.
Noelle Talley,
spokesperson for the N.C.
Attorney General's office.
told The Chronicle last
Friday that after his report
came out in 2012, Chris
Swecker "had a lengthy
discussion with a senior
advisor to the attorney gen
eral " about it. She would
not identify who that
"senior advisor" was, nor
cou]d she pinpoint when
the conversation took
place. -
Why the state attorney
general's office seems to
insist that there's nothing
of note in the Swecker
report worthy of considera
tion, but that they have
done their due diligence in
properly reviewing it, is a
mystery not only to Kalvin
Smith's supporters, but to
Chris Swecker as well.
"The report's so
detailed, and it speaks for
itself that ....if [the AG's
Office] read the report ...
they should have read the
report and dissected it ... I
still find it hard to believe
that it wasn't compelling
enough for them to exer- i
cise their discretion that
they have on appeal," the
former FBI director told
The Chronicle Sunday,
adding that, "I'm tryiiig to
stay both objective and
neutral."
Swecker noted that the
attorney general's office
has previously exercised its
legal discretion in several
cases, including the infa
mous 2006 Duke lacrosse
alleged rape case, and
recently in the Charlotte
fatal police shooting case.
"So I don't buy that
idea that they don't have
any discretion whatsoever
on deciding whether to
appeal or not to appeal, or
oppose an appeal, for
example," he says.
Student supporters of
Kalvin Smith from Wake
Forest University,
Winston-Salem State
University and Salem
College who have been ral
lying to have Smith freed,
issued a statement this
week which said, in part,
"Attorney General Cooper
cannot claim to be the
courageous crusader for
systemic criminal justice
reform while continuing to
defend the wrongful incar
ceration of Kalvin Michael
Smith.
"We are- calling on Mr.
Cooper to uphold the oath
of his office in seeking jus
tice and truth: Justice for
Kalvin, who has remained
wrongfully incarcerated for
19 years, justice for Ms. Jill
Marker, whose actual
attacker has still not been
held accountable, and jus
tice for the citizens of
North Carolina, whose tax
dollars have paid to keep
this innocent man in
prison."
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