The citizens committee reviewing the Silk Plant Forest case decided last night to ask for interviews with Kalvin Smith, the man convicted in the case, Kenneth Lamoureux, an early suspect, and Phoebe Zerwick, a former Winston-Salem Journal reporter who wrote a series in 2004 raising questions about the conviction.
Now that the Silk Plant Forest Citizen Review Committee has a 90-day deadline for finishing its work, members said that the three interview requests have to be made for their work to be thorough.
"To be fair, any major player in this saga that we can interview, we need to interview.... Or at least ask," said Barry Lyons, a committee member.
Smith and Lamoureux had not been asked previously for interviews. Zerwick was asked early in the committee's work and now will be asked again. Zerwick had declined, citing a request from the Journal's editors.
As a general rule, the newspaper does not volunteer its reporters to take part in the work of government, preferring to let its published work speak for itself, said Ken Otterbourg, the Journal's managing editor.
The Winston-Salem City Council set the 90-day deadline at a special meeting Wednesday at which the case's lead detective, Don Williams, was supposed to answer the committee's questions. Williams ignored the subpoena, and the council voted in closed session to ask a judge to order him to answer questions.
It could take months to compel Williams to testify. Mayor Allen Joines and Mayor Pro Tem Vivian Burke said in a letter yesterday to the committee that one reason they want their report soon is that it could be used to show a judge why Williams' testimony is essential.
The committee may be able to add to its report if Williams later testifies, Joines has said.
Williams was the lead investigator of the beating of Jill Marker, who was attacked in 1995 at the Silk Plant Forest, a store off Silas Creek Parkway. The attack has left her with permanent brain damage, and she requires 24-hour care.
Smith, who was convicted for the crime in 1997, has said he is innocent. A hearing on his request for a new trial has been set for Jan. 5.
The review committee is supposed to turn over all its interviews both to Smith's attorneys and District Attorney Tom Keith.
Assistant City Attorney Al Andrews said that eight interviews with police employees are still to be turned over, along with the transcript of the interview with retired police lieutenant Randy Weavil, Williams' supervisor.
The interviews are being turned over through an agreement made in September with Judge Richard Doughton, the judge who is also hearing Smith's motion for a new trial.
Jet Hollander, an advocate for Smith's innocence, urged the city to finish turning over the work and comply with the agreement with Doughton.
In a separate discussion last night, committee chairman Guy Blynn said that Burke and Joines' letter does not seem to change the committee's mission.
Blynn has often said that the panel's mission is broader than a review of police policy and procedure and includes comprehensive fact-finding.
Council Member Dan Besse asked Joines and Burke at the special meeting to write a letter that would tell the committee to "in particular" focus on questions of whether police policy and procedure were followed in the Silk Plant case.
Blynn said that the committee has a focus on policy and procedure, but it is not the only focus, nor did the letter say that police policy should be the exclusive focus.
"I'm quite sure that this letter was carefully drafted," he said. "So if they didn't say it, my own personal viewpoint is they didn't change it (the committee's mission)."
■ Dan Galindo can be reached at 727-7377 or at dgalindo@wsjournal.com.
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