Wednesday, February 04, 2004
The Darryl Hunt case caused people to mistrust the Winston-Salem Police Department and the criminal-justice system, and damaged the city's image nationwide, a new committee says.
The issues are on a list that the Committee on Racial Healing will try to deal with in the coming months, Mayor Allen Joines said yesterday.
Joines formed the 11-member committee to find ways to help the community heal. Hunt was released from prison Dec. 24 after being twice convicted and serving 18 years for the stabbing death of Deborah Sykes. His release on unsecured bond came after another suspect was identified through DNA testing and charged with the 1984 rape and murder of Sykes. A hearing Friday will determine whether Hunt's murder conviction is overturned.
The mayor's committee met for the first time yesterday behind closed doors at City Hall. The group had a "good, frank discussion," Joines said. "There was no holding back."
The initial meetings of the group will continue to be closed to the public because of the delicate nature of the discussions and a need for building trust among members, Joines said. Eventually, residents will be included in discussions, possibly at community forums, he said.
"I wish I could talk about it (the meeting), but I can't," said Jim Shaw, a committee member and a vice president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The committee agreed that only Joines would speak about the meetings.
"We felt it would be in the best interest for one person to talk," Shaw said.
The group also decided to add members from the Jewish, Hispanic and Muslim communities, and compiled a list of issues to tackle with the goal of keeping the public informed.
The issues center on racism, the city's damaged image, the mistrust by black residents of the police and criminal justice system, and a need for white residents to understand that those issues exist.
There also is a lingering question of whether other innocent people are in prison that the committee will try to deal with.
Joines said that the committee's next meeting will be in a couple of weeks, though no date has been set.
• Victoria Cherrie can be reached at 727-7283 or at vcherrie@wsjournal.com