KMS: The New Hurricane?

”…The man the authorities came to blame

For something that he never done…”

Dylan, writing and singing about Rueben “Hurricane” Carter, may have been describing Kalvin Michael Smith, the subject of much reporting and editorializing in the Journal.  But, unlike Carter, who eventually was released, things seem much bleaker for Smith after his habeas corpus motion was dismissed and the application of the self-proclaimed Truth Committee to participate in his motion was denied.

I know something about Smith’s case; I was privileged to chair the City Council’s Silk Plant Forest Citizens Review Committee, the only independent non-judicial entity to review the case.  Writing for myself and no other member of my Committee, I say with great personal conviction that, while Judge Eagles might have been absolutely correct as a matter of law in holding that Smith’s habeas corpus motion was not timely filed, the fact that he continues to sit in jail 16 years after his conviction evidences a justice system which, plainly said, reached the wrong result and continues to perpetrate an injustice.

Contrary to what often has been interpreted by others, including the Journal, this is not what was concluded in my Committee’s resolution of March 17, 2009.  Words make a difference and that Resolution concluded that, as of its date, after as thorough a review as we could conduct within the constraints imposed upon us by the City Council (primarily constraints relating to the time given to us to complete our report), we were aware of no credible evidence existing in 2009 that Smith was at the Silk Plant Forest Store at the time Jill Marker was beaten horribly.

Our Resolution’s acknowledgment that a jury convicted Smith and judged the credibility of the witnesses and other evidence presented at his trial was meant to underline that we were not in a position to put ourselves in the place of that 1997 jury.  The jury found that there was credible evidence.

My review of the case began when the Council was in the final phases of constituting our Committee.  I knew almost nothing about the case before I began my study.  I read the transcript of Smith’s trial and the various evidentiary hearings which immediately preceded it.  The result:  I could not imagine how the jury found that there was no reasonable doubt about Smith’s culpability.

Smith sits in jail today because the judicial system places great weight on the results of a jury trial.  I don’t know enough about the law relating to criminal appeals to pontificate about the correctness of Judge Eagles’ recent opinion.  Neither do most of those others who have commented. I do know that Smith has had numerous bites at the appellate apple, all of them leaving a unpleasant taste in the mouths of those who support him.

Those who are waiting for Smith to be completely exonerated are likely to remain unsatisfied forever.  Unless someone else confesses (and the most likely other suspect, Lamoureux, is dead), I cannot imagine any sort of evidence which will prove Smith innocent.  Being innocent, of course, is different than being “not guilty.”

I do not know whether Smith desires to be free of jail under any conditions.  I suspect that many of his supporters seek not only his freedom but an accompanying cash stipend to compensate him, as if anything can, for the lost years of his life.  I fear this result never will be attained and that Judge Eagles’ rejection of Smith’s motion is nearly the last turn of the key locking Smith in jail for the remainder of his sentence.

The judicial process might not afford Smith the greatest possibility of being released before serving his entire sentence.  Rather, he might be well advised to appeal to the executive branch for clemency or a commutation of his sentence.  Perhaps I am naïve about such things, but it seems to me that the Governor, even a conservative one, might be moved by a petition supported by all or nearly all of our Committee, large numbers of other citizens, including clergy, some present and former members of law enforcement and, in this election year, politicians running for local office.

(This will be published in the Winston Salem Journal - August 11, 2012)