Darryl Hunt (February 24, 1965 – March 13, 2016) was an African-American man from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who, in 1984, was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape and the murder of Deborah Sykes, a young white newspaper copy editor. After being convicted in that case, Hunt was tried in 1987 for the 1983 murder of Arthur Wilson, a 57-year-old black man of Winston-Salem. Both convictions were overturned on appeal in 1989. Hunt was tried again in the Wilson case in 1990; he was acquitted by an all-white jury. He was tried again on the Sykes charges in 1991; he was convicted.
In 1994, the defense gained DNA testing of physical evidence in the Sykes case; this test was not available at the time of Hunt's trial in 1984. It showed that he could not have committed the rape, but a Forsyth County judge ruled that the DNA would not have been sufficient evidence to gain an acquittal, as he could still have been involved in the murder. Hunt was held in prison until 2004, when he was fully exonerated of the murder and released after serving 19 +1⁄2 years.[1] His exoneration followed the confession by Willard E. Brown to the crimes. In 2003 a review of the state database found that Brown's DNA matched that in the Sykes case, and in 2004 Hunt was formally exonerated.[1][2]
Becoming a modern cause célèbre, Hunt's case was said to have "helped define race relations in Winston-Salem for 20 years."[3] It resulted in an internal review and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation making its own inquiry in 1986. Incumbent District Attorney Donald K. Tisdale lost his bid for re-election in the Democratic primary that same year.[4] The Winston-Salem Journal published articles on the case in a 2003 series as a result of its six-month investigation into how the police and prosecution had investigated and shaped the discussion of the murder; they tried to reconcile the new DNA evidence with other facts to keep Hunt in jail. The newspaper published an "Epilogue" with the series in 2007 after Hunt was exonerated and freed in 2004.
"In 2006 the chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court appointed a group of prosecutors, police, defense attorneys and crime victims to the N.C. Actual Innocence Commission to look at what leads to wrongful convictions and to propose reforms."[5] In particular, the commission recommended changes to the procedure of gaining eyewitness testimony,[5] resulting in changes to state law. That year the state also established the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, to review cases post-conviction in which defendants and their attorneys believe they were wrongfully convicted.
While in prison, Darryl Hunt became a Muslim and worked as a volunteer with the national Innocence Project. After being released, he was given settlements by the city and state. He founded The Darryl Hunt Project for Freedom and Justice, devoted to "educating the public about flaws in the criminal justice system, advocating for those wrongfully incarcerated as a result of those flaws, and providing resources and support for those trying to rebuild their lives." He spoke widely on wrongful convictions and worked for reforms to criminal laws of North Carolina.
Darryl Hunt died in 2016 in Winston-Salem from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Friends had been worried about his mental health and possible depression.[6][7]
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