The Trials of Darryl Hunt

Career Award Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg

In a country that boasts a system of blind justice for all, Darryl Hunt’s story is a painful reminder of the extent to which race and class biases plague our legal system. In 1984, Hunt was accused of raping and murdering a young white newspaper reporter, Deborah Sykes, in Winston-Salem, NC. Despite the fact that no physical evidence linked him to the crime, Hunt was convicted by an almost all-white jury—based on an ID by a former Klan member—and sentenced to life in prison. Ten years later, when DNA testing exonerated him, Hunt was cleared of the crime. However, North Carolina courts, skeptical of the relatively new scientific evidence, did not fully acquit him until 2004, when another man admitted to the crime. Interweaving exclusive footage with first-person accounts, this 20-year chronicle of one man’s wrongful conviction serves as an eye-opening reminder of the pervasive fear and racism that continue to define our criminal justice system—and our communities.  RM

Directors

Ricki Stern, Annie Sundberg

Producers

William Rexer, Katie Brown

Executive Producers

Ricki Stern, Annie Sundberg

Editor

Shannon Kennedy

Cinematographer

William Rexer

Release Year

2006

Festival Year

2011

Country

United States

Run Time

106 minutes