News > October 25, 2007

By Liza Greenspun | News editor

Wake Forest University School of Law is launching a DNA Innocence Project to help those who were wrongfully convicted of crimes in Forsyth County.

According to Ronald Wright, executive associate dean of the Law School, Forsyth County District Attorney Tom Keith approached the Forsyth County Bar Association to make sure there were no problems in the county’s justice system as a result of the Darryl Hunt case.

Darryl Hunt is an African-American man from Winston-Salem who spent nearly 20 years in prison after being wrongfully accused of the rape and murder of a white woman.

The case spurred tension in race relations and in the justice system of Forsyth County for many years.

Wright said Keith asked the FCBA for help in order to prevent similar injustices from occurring in the future.

In response to the District Attorney’s request, the FCBA wrote a letter to every inmate in Forsyth County, asking if there is physical evidence available that would prove their innocence. The FCBA received 211 letters in response.

Logistically, this number was too many for the FCBA to handle, so it asked the School of Law for assistance.

Thus, Wright said, the law school’s DNA Innocence Project will begin this semester.

“The idea is that human beings make mistakes,” Wright said. “Sometimes the criminal justice system convicts the wrong person.”

Many law students, according to Wright, are committed to the idea of justice and therefore want to help with the project to fix any flaws in the justice system.

He said about 65 law students attended an interest meeting for the project earlier this year.

Those in attendance viewed the documentary The Trials of Darryl Hunt and had the opportunity to ask questions of Hunt, who was at the meeting.

At the beginning stages, the project will only be informally related to the Darryl Hunt Foundation, although Wright said he foresees the law school’s project working directly with the Darryl Hunt Foundation in the future.

Wright said that those involved with the project will read all of the letters from inmates and look at trial records and transcripts to see if that particular person would be eligible for a new test of physical evidence.

For example, according to Wright, the District Attorney said that he would only consider testing the evidence of inmates who maintained their innocence throughout the entire trial and those who are still in custody.

As part of the project law students will volunteer to find out this information about each of the inmates who wrote a letter.

Then, they will have to search for the physical evidence that would prove that person’s innocence.

Each person will be assigned a supervising Forsyth County attorney.

If those working on the case believe there is enough evidence to prove a wrongful conviction, they will present the evidence to a review panel consisting of a law professor, a prosecutor and a defense attorney, Wright said. The review panel will then have the authority to decide whether or not to recommend the case to the District Attorney. If it is recommended to the District Attorney, the evidence will be tested.

Wright said that Keith has already agreed to test any evidence that is recommended to him.

“We’re excited about this,” Wright said of the overall project.

A training session was held Oct. 23 for all law students interested in helping with the project.

They were trained in the process and how to answer questions and present evidence to the review panel, Wright said.

At its current stage, only law students are able to help with the DNA Innocence Project.

However, “I do picture roles for undergraduate students in future years once we get this up and running,” Wright said.

He expects the project to be in full swing by fall 2008.