City Announces Settlement, Releases Sykes Committee Report, and Issues Apology to Darryl Hunt

Office of the City Manager - Feb. 19, 2007
Contact: Lee Garrity, 727-2123

The City of Winston-Salem announced today that Darryl Hunt has settled all of his claims against the city, its officers, and its employees. The city has agreed to make a payment of $1.65 million to Hunt to settle his asserted claims.

The settlement follows 18 months of careful investigation of the matter by the Sykes Administrative Review Committee, and it comes more than 21 years after Hunt was imprisoned after being wrongfully convicted of the 1984 murder of Deborah Sykes. Hunt was freed after DNA evidence led to the arrest in 2003 of Williard Brown, who subsequently confessed to killing Sykes. Hunt’s sentence was vacated in 2004, and he was subsequently pardoned by Governor Mike Easley.

The Sykes Report reveals actions of city officers and employees, and of others, which fall far short of the standards the city holds and espouses. Mayor Allen Joines and the members of the City Council today issued a signed, written statement expressing the city’s “sincere regret” and making “a profound and sincere apology to Darryl Hunt for all he has endured and suffered.” The city further expressed its determination to do all in its power to ensure that such a tragic series of events may never happen again.

The Sykes Administrative Review Committee was asked to help the city manager review the Sykes homicide and four related cases: the 1983 Arthur Wilson homicide, the 1984 Linda E. rape, the 1985 Kathleen D. rape, and the 1985 Regina K. (Integon) rape. The committee’s 106-page report, and 38 appendices totaling almost 9,000 pages, carefully and comprehensively documents all that the city has been able to learn of the truth of these cases.

The report, released by order of Superior Court Judge William Z. Wood, includes these findings:

1. There is no evidence that Hunt was involved in the Sykes rape or murder.

2. The police had sufficient basis to seriously doubt the credibility of Johnny Gray, who reported that he witnessed the crime.

3. The police either failed to see or document any connections that were made between the Deborah Sykes and Regina K. cases even when both were under investigation at the same time by the same detective.

4. The police either failed to consider, or to document after consideration, any investigative leads or evidence derived from the Linda E. and Kathleen D. cases, even after the same investigator worked on those cases, and the Sykes and Regina K. cases.

5. The police should have documented Johnny Gray’s identification of Terry Thomas on August 22, 1984.

6. The search warrant for Mattie Mitchell’s apartment search warrant lacked probable cause and contained false information.

7. The search warrant for Darryl Hunt’s blood contained false information.

8. Without any evidence in the Regina K. case to compare to Williard Brown, the search warrant for Williard Brown’s blood most likely lacked probable cause.

9. The inability to locate the Williard Brown search warrant raises concerns.

10. Kevey Coleman’s recent recollections of his interviews with detectives raise significant questions.

11. The police failed to properly document the September 12, 1984 line-up where Johnny Gray allegedly identified Hunt.

12. The May 13, 1985 line-up violated Hunt’s Sixth Amendment right to have an attorney present.

13. The police failed to turn over documents prepared for the Sykes case to prosecutors.

14. Case files in these investigations were not always completed in a timely manner.

15. The police marginalized Regina K. by not conducting a voice exemplar to include Brown, discouraging her from pressing charges, and failed to make an apparent connection to the Sykes case.

The report recommends:

implementing new line-up procedures;
video taping interviews of suspects;
engaging an outside agency to review the Criminal Investigations Division to ensure best practices are in place;
revising evidence collections, storage, and retention procedures to ensure its integrity and availability;
terminating employees who in the future do not disclose exculpatory material or who lie about their performance as department employees;
adopting and implementing an anti-racism strategic plan, to include termination of employees who display a character for racial bias;
implementing a new, independent, case-review process;
revising case assignment procedures to ensure competent investigation;
requiring accurate and timely completion of all future police reports;
enhancing supervision to ensure that employees comply with department policies, and taking corrective action as needed to maintain discipline and compliance;
enhancing training programs for police employees to include ethics and diversity training;
implementing a career-ladder pay structure; and
reassigning the public safety attorney position to the city attorney’s office.

The Sykes Committee was first suggested by City Council Member and Mayor Pro Tempore Vivian H. Burke and subsequently appointed by the City Council. The citizen committee had seven members: Donald Nielsen (chairman), Isiah Black (vice chairman), Marcia Cole, Renarde Earl, Anita Hairston, Jet Hollander, and Rick Pender. The committee began its work July 26, 2005. After an extensive review, the committee adopted its report on January 11, 2007.

As part of the city’s desire to conduct the public’s business openly, the city obtained court approval to release confidential personnel information included in the Sykes Report. The City Council then approved the release of the report. This report, the most comprehensive report ever on this matter, addresses many questions. Some questions could not be resolved due to the passage of time, missing documents, and individuals who elected to not cooperate with the review, citing failing memories due to the passage of time or their own personal reasons. The report draws reasonable conclusions on issues where sufficient information was available.

The City of Winston-Salem encourages all interested persons to read the Sykes Administrative Review Committee Report, along with the appendices.

Read the city’s written apology to Darryl Hunt [PDF/128kb/1page].

This news release in Adobe Reader format [PDF/172kb/4pages]

The report and appendix