The Chronicle
Volume43,Number50 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, August 25, 2016
Smith supporters are undeterred
N.C. Supreme Court denies appeal;
case is getting national attention in
a new MTV series
*
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE M
Even as the N.C. Supreme Court rejects Kalvin
Michael Smith's appeal, the case is getting national atten
tion from a MTV documentary series that activists hope
will make a difference in the controversial case.
Smith is serving up to 29 years for the 1995 assault of
Jill Marker at the Silk Plant Forest store that left her with
severe brain injuries. He has many supporters who were
disappointed by the state Supreme Court decision.
"It missed an opportunity to restore the confidence of
many in our community in the North Carolina criminal
justice systeqi," said Stephen Boyd, co-chair of The Silk
Plant Forest Truth Committee, a group of advocates who
Kalvin Michael Smith appears in the MTV docu
mentary series, "Unlocking the Truth," which his
supporters hope will get national attention to the
case.
believe Smith is innocent.
Smith's attorney, James Coleman, co-director of Duke
University law school's Wrongful Convictions Clinic, said
the case is not over.
"We just lost one issue and as soon as we can draft the
papers, we're going to go back into court and raise addi
tional claims?" he said.
Coleman said the clinic has so far gotten six exonera
tions. He said normally the prosecutor will agree that there
was a wrongful conviction in the case. That hasn't hap
pened in this case, which has been handled since 2008 by
the attorney general's office of Roy Cooper, who is now
running for governor.
The committee continues to advocate for Smith online
by posting links to a documentary series featuring his
case. "Unlocking the Truth" premiered on MTV last week.
The series follows Ryan Ferguson, who was exonerated
after being wrongfully convicted of murder, as he looks
into others' claims of innocence. Smith's is one of only
three cases of alleged wrongful conviction to be shown in
the series so far.
Boyd, a Wake Forest University religion professor,
said if Smith gets national attention, it should become an
See Smith on A2
: Koto mm MTV. UnlocUc &c Tnah
Photo by Todd Lock
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Deborah Ross speaks to attendees at Forsyth County Democratic Party
Headquarters on Tuesday, Aug. 23.
Deborah Ross campaigns
for U.S. Senate in W-S
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Deborah Ross cam
paigned in Winston-Salem, stopping by the Southside
Library and Forsyth County Democratic Party
Headquarters on Tuesday, Aug. 23.
Ross spoke to a small group of invited seniors at the
library about Medicare and Social Security.
She promised to stabilize both programs. Medicare
will be insolvent by 2026, according to the Congressional.
Budget Office, and Social Security Trustees predict the
same will happen to that program by 2034.
"I care about making sure our seniors can retire with
? dignity," she told attendees.
She hit her opponent, incumbent Republican Sen.
Richard Burr, on his support of increasing privatization in
Medicare. She accused him of being influenced by special
interests that contribute to his campaign. She said she
would do things such as raise the limit on paying into
Social Security so that high
er income taxpayers, like
millionaires, contribute
more, which she says would
shore up the program.
At Democratic headquar
ters, she spoke to a slightly
lareer. diverse audience with
numerous black community leaders in it. Attendees
included Forsyth County Democratic Party Chairman Eric
Ellison, N.C. Sen. Paul Lowe, Clerk of Court Susan Fiye,
See Ross on A2
eracy, the school formerly known as Cook Elementary
School will also have an extended day that will begin at
8:15 a.m. and end at 2:45 p.m., which is 30 minutes longer
than other elementary schools in the district.
According to school administrators, the early start and
See Cook on AS
Photo by Tevin Stinsor
A student at Cook Literacy Model School is filled
with excitement and ready to start school. Cook
started the school year on Monday, Aug. 22, a week
earlier than other schools in the district.
Students get
head start at
new Cook
BYTEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
While most, students in the Winston-Salem Forsyth
County Schoef-System are enjoying their last week of
freedom before school starts, the students who attend
Cook Literacy Model School got a head start on the 2016
2017 school year when they started classes on Monday.
Aug. 22.
As part of a new education model that focuses on lit
CAMPAIGN
V?
I?
I
~ y
North Carolina remembers journalist George Curry
BY CASH MICHAELS
FOR THE CHRONICLE
The untimely death of veteran
black journalist George E. Curry
has saddened not only many in the
civil rights, media and political
communities who knew Curry and
- his work across the nation, but also*
across North Carolina.
Curry, 69, who reportedly died
of heart failure Saturday, was the
former editor-in-chief for the
National Newspaper Publishers
Association (NNPA), the nonprofit
association of over 200-member
African-American newspapers.
Emie Pitt, publisher emeritus of
the Winston-Salem Chronicle, was
among the many North Carolina
black publish
ers who
mourned the
loss of this
legendary col
league.
"I have
had the pleas
ure of working
with George
for more than two decades," Pitt
said. "He was a classic, dedicated
and committed journalist. Working
with George was so gratifying
because he took writing articles and
news stories seriously."
"He was a stickler for getting
the story right," Pitt continued.
See Curry on A7
Curry ,
ASSURED
STORAGE
of Winston-Salem, WC
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