Beyond Innocence: Darryl Hunt and the Fight for Justice in America, Exhibit, Panel Discussion & Reception

This event has been postponed to the Fall 2022 semester.

Wake Forest Law will be hosting Beyond Innocence: Darryl Hunt and the Fight for Justice in America next Fall. This event will premiere The Darryl Hunt Case Archive with an exhibit, and the book Beyond Innocence: The Life Sentence of Darryl Hunt written by Wake Forest University Professor Phoebe Zerwick. The collection is a living archive of trial transcripts, motions, exhibits, newspaper articles, personal notes and other correspondence between Darryl Hunt, Prof. Mark Rabil, and others. They were gathered over the decades-long fight to overturn Mr. Hunt’s conviction.

Darryl Hunt was twice wrongfully convicted of the murder of a local newspaper editor and served nearly twenty years before the crime was solved with DNA evidence in 2003. During this time, Wake Forest Law Professor Mark Rabil worked tirelessly to prove Mr. Hunt’s innocence, and was aided in his efforts by an award-winning series of articles by Professor Phoebe Zerwick in the Winston-Salem Journal.

The archive will be a valuable resource for the community and scholars in the study of wrongful convictions, as well as helping understand the complex trauma inflicted on the wrongfully incarcerated. Most importantly, it provides insight into the real man who stood up to the justice system and fought for decades for his freedom.

Panel: Thursday, March 17 — 5pm, Room 1312

Join the panel for a discussion of the archive, the case, and its significance on shedding an important light on the American justice system:

• Corey D. B. Walker, Professor of the Humanities and Director, Program in African American Studies, Wake Forest University (Moderator)
• Mark Rabil, Clinical Professor of Law, Director of Innocence and Justice Clinic, Wake Forest University School of Law
• Leslie Wakeford, Metadata Services Librarian and Archivist, Wake Forest University School of Law
• Phoebe Zerwick, Associate Professor of the Practice, Department of English and Director, Journalism Program, Wake Forest University; author of Beyond Innocence: The Life Sentence of Darryl Hunt

Exhibit: Thursday, March 17 – All Day, Law Commons

Reception: Thursday, March 17 – Worrell Courtyard, Immediately following Panel Discussion

Event sponsors:

• Wake Forest Law Criminal Justice Program
• Wake Forest Law Innocence and Justice Clinic
• Wake Forest University Journalism Program
• Wake Forest University African-American Studies Program