Darryl Hunt Case Study

Darryl Hunt, a 19 year old male, was convicted of a murder he didn't commit in 1984 in North Carolina. On August 10, 1984, Deborah Skyes who was 25 years old and a copy editor at a local newspaper, was sexually assaulted and stabbed to death in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. A 911 call was made by a man who identified himself as Sammy Mitchell to report an attack that was made. Police spoke with him and Hunt, who was his friend the next day. Mitchell told the police that it wasn't him who made the call but a man named Johnny Gray, told the police that he had made the call. A local man had told the police that he saw Sykes accompanied by an African-American man on the morning of the crime. When he was describing the person, it matched Darryl Hunt’s description and a photo lineup was later arranged and the witness identified Hunt. Hunt was eventually tried with first-degree murder, eyewitnesses testified that they had seen him with Sykes before the crime and the he was seen entering a hotel

Eyewitnesses that testified before testified once again along with two jailhouse snitches said that Hunt had admitted his guilt to them in person. Once again, he was sentenced to life in prison. Mark Rabil, who was Hunt’s trial attorney, worked on his case for almost 20 years. Rabil along with Ben Dowling-Sendor who was also an attorney, filed for DNA testing. In October 1994, results came and it appeared that Hunt’s DNA didn't match the semen found on the victims body during the crime. Judges didn't take it into consideration and that didn't prove his innocence. In 2004, after 19 years of Hunt’s conviction, the DNA from the crime scene was run into the state database, due to the request of Hunt’s attorney. The results ended up matching to a man who was already incarcerated for another murder. The man pleaded guilty to the murder of Deborah Sykes. Hunt was exonerated and freed in the year of