Kalvin Michael Smith is in prison because police targeted a poor black man in the beating of a Winston-Salem woman and prosecutors convinced a jury that he was guilty, a speaker at a rally for Smith said last night.
The Rev. John Mendez, the pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church, said that officials should be ashamed of prosecuting Smith in the beating of Jill Marker.
"This is a serious, serious moment," Mendez said to about 100 people who gathered at his church for the rally. "This city doesn't have any shame."
Mendez said he would have thought that the criminal-justice system would have changed after the release of Darryl Hunt, who served nearly 19 years in prison after he was wrongly convicted of murder. But it seems that Smith "may have to go through torture and pain" just like Hunt did, Mendez said.
People in Winston-Salem will demand justice for Smith, Mendez said.
"I'm optimistic," he said. "I have hope."
Mendez was among several speakers at the rally, which was sponsored by the Darryl Hunt Project for Freedom and Justice and the Ministers Conference of Winston-Salem.
Smith, 37, was convicted in 1997 in the beating of Jill Marker at the Silk Plant Forest. Marker, who was pregnant at the time of the attack, suffered brain damage from being hit in the head 20 times. She gave birth to a healthy boy while in a coma.
Smith, who is serving a minimum of 23 years in prison, maintains his innocence. Smith's supporters have said that his case was marred by bad police work and prosecutors who ignored conflicting evidence. A series of stories in the Winston-Salem Journal in 2004 raised questions about the case.
The city has since formed a citizens review committee to investigate the case. The Forsyth County district attorney, Tom Keith, asked the N.C. Attorney General's Office to take over the case after questions were raised about the way prosecutors handled it. The Attorney General's Office has stood by Smith's conviction, saying that he should not be granted a new trial.
Organizers held the rally to raise public awareness about Smith's case. The citizens review committee will hold a meeting Monday at the Stuart Municipal Building.
Jet Hollander, a local activist, reviewed the case for the audience. He said that Smith was not involved in the beating.
Speaking outside the rally, Hunt said that court documents in the case point to Smith's innocence. "It is important that we get to the truth," Hunt said.
At the rally, the Rev. Linda McBeal, the president of the ministers conference, also said that Smith's supporters also want justice for him, and she urged the audience to continue to work toward a new trial for him or his release from prison.
The Rev. Steven Angle, a member of the ministers conference, said that too many white pastors and churches "have been missing in action" in the Marker case. "We are now showing up at the table," he said.
Smith's family and Marker's family are suffering because of this case, said Lynn Boyd, a member of Mothers for Justice. Smith is in prison for a crime he didn't commit, she said, and the person who did is at large.
■ John Hinton can be reached at 727-7299 or at jhinton@wsjournal.com.
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