Twenty years ago a 4 year-old girl told her mother that her stomach hurt her too bad to go to school. She had been complaining about the pain quite a bit so the mother took the child to the emergency room at New Hanover Memorial Hospital. The child and mother were taken back to an examining room and shortly there after someone asked the mother to leave the child and follow that person to another room.
Once the mother was in the room, she was told by authorities, that her
4 year old daughter had been sexually abused and could not go back into
the room with her daughter. A police detective soon came to interview
the mother and a social worker followed suit.
The mother was afraid. She was told the child might be taken from her.
She was asked if any male could have been alone with the child. She was
asked if she ever knew if the child was sexually abused in anyway prior
to that day. The mother answered all questions truthfully and without
hesitation. She knew of no prior sexual abuses and yes, her daughter was
alone with a man who lived with her. The man’s name was Sylvester
Smith.
SYLVESTER SMITH
The child was treated as a rape victim. A rape kit was used to collect
evidence. Examinations conducted by professionals looking for evidence
of sexual contact. Physical evidence was discovered and collected. According
to the mother, evidence such as blood, soft tissue injury, bruising, injury
to the hymen, and semen were taken note of and in some cases swabs used
to collect samples. DA Rex Gore said that there is no physical evidence
that he has been able to find. North Carolina’s First Lady Mary
Easley, an assistant District Attorney with Brunswick County, was a rape
victim advocate at the time and may have interviewed the child and examined
physical evidence gathered at the time. A call to First Lady Easley has
not been returned yet.
A lengthy trial took place in the Brunswick County Court House. The District
Attorney was Mike Easley, now the Governor of North Carolina. A case was
built around the physical evidence and the statements of the four year
old victim as well as the victim’s 6 year-old cousin. The 6 year
old reported to have also been sexually abused by Mr. Smith at the same
time as the 4 year old.
In the trial evidence was presented to a jury. One such piece of evidence
was the fact that both girls had a venereal
disease. The suspect, Sylvester Smith refused to grant permission
to be tested for the venereal disease, or release any medical records.
There was no evidence presented in the hearing regarding the existence
or nonexistence of the sexually transmitted disease when he was routinely
tested upon his entrance to the prison system.
Smith was convicted and sentenced to two life terms for the rape and sexual
abuse of the two young girls.
On November 2, 2004 Rex Gore, the current District Attorney of Brunswick
County, announced that his office was going to make a motion to Judge
William Gore to conduct a hearing to take a look at possibly retrying
this 20 year old case. One of the victims, the 4 year old, came to the
District Attorney last summer to tell him that Smith was being punished
too harsh, but she did not then recant her accusations from 20 years earlier.
Two weeks ago the victim accompanied by Smith family members, contacted
Roy Trest, a lawyer from Brunswick County and told him that she and her
cousin had lied about Sylvester Smith. Smith, she claimed, was innocent.
The 4 year-old victim says now, that a 9 year-old cousin, Benjamin Peterson,
a man currently serving a life sentence for 1st Degree Murder, was the
person that caused the injuries and not Mr. Smith. When the 6 year-old
victim asked about the 4 year old's testimony, she denied that Sylvester
Smith molested her, she also disagreed with her cousin about Benjamin
Peterson. Peterson, she claimed, never raped or molested her. The 6 year
old victim now says that no one molested her when she was six.
Peterson learned of these accusations by reading a report of the hearing in the Raleigh News & Observer and immediately wrote to his mother in Wilmington telling her that he did not do it. When she read the letter on Wednesday she said that her son is extremely upset and that she believed he did not commit the acts that the now adult accused him of.
BENJAMIN PETERSON, in prison for murdering a man he was robbing at a fish market on Dawson Street by hitting him in the head with a ball bat in 1992. Peterson claims he did not mean to kill the man, only knock him down. Any death as the result of the commission of a felony act can be prosecuted as first degree murder. Peterson was convicted of First Degree Murder. Peterson had a prior arrest for raping a female aquaintance and the charge was later dismissed.
The motion was granted and a hearing took place on Friday November 5,
2004. At the trial Sylvester Smith was present, dressed in a slate grey
suit and blue shirt and tie. The two accusers, now 20 years older took
turns testifying on the stand denying that Smith had anything to do with
the assaults.
One piece of evidence that the DA presented, actually the only piece of
evidence introduced, was from the transcript of testimony that the 4 year-old
gave on the witness stand. The defense attorney, 20 years ago, asked the
4 year-old, “Has anyone told you to say that Sylvester put his ‘worm’
in you? “ and the 4 year-old replied, “ My grandma”
then he asked her “Sylvester never really did this to you, did he
sweetheart?” and the 4 year-old answered “No.” According
to District Attorney Rex Gore, District Attorney Easley in his redirect
asked, "Did anyone tell you what to say when you got to court"
and the 4 year-old’s response was that folks told her to tell the
truth and she did.
Rex Gore then went on to say, “Her testimony has never changed,
20 years ago she said Mr. Smith did not rape her and today she still says
he didn’t rape her, it is time the State heard her.”
During this hearing the mother of the victim, mumbled out loud a couple
of times as she sat in the audience. One time in particular the Judge
took noticed and stopped the court when the mother spoke out, loud enough
for her daughter to hear, “Why are you lying?” Judge Gore
then told the mother that he would allow her to speak if she wanted to,
but to stay quiet until that time.
When the mother finally did get the chance to be sworn in and testify,
she contradicted several things her daughter said on the stand. She said
that no one told the child to say anything, that the child said what she
said truthfully and honestly 20 years ago when she made the initial accusations
and when she testified for the prosecution. She told me that her mother
actually liked Sylvester Smith and was definitely not the type of person
that could have lived with sending an innocent man to prison for life.
Ann Ogundeji was particularly upset that her, now deceased mother is being
portrayed falsely as a criminal. She said her mother was the salt of the
earth and had she have found out that her 9 year old grandson did such
a thing she would have “worn his bottom out” rather than lie
about an innocent man that she liked and respected.
The child 20 years ago, changed her story when the defense asked her about
the “worm”, it is unclear if the 4year–old understand
what the defense attorney asked. But just as surprising as it was for
the mother to come forward, trying to “set the record straight”,
was the mother’s testimony that the daughter, the 4 year-old victim,
was currently living with the defendant’s sister and had done so
for the past several months. When the mother went on to speak of her daughter’s
bad character both the defense attorney and the district attorney teamed
up to attack the mother’s own character by bringing up past criminal
charges. The defense attorney went so far as to accuse the mother of being
a drug addict and that the child had to leave home when she was a teen
to take refuge with relatives, a charge the mother vehemently denied.
When asked why the prosecution did not present prosecutorial evidence
at the hearing he said that "the district attorney could not be found",
taken to mean that he could not locate Governor Mike Easley, who was the
District Attorney 20 years ago.
The Judge took a break to make his decision about allowing a new trial
and when he returned he said that his decision was deliberate and was
made feeling neither, one way or the other about Mr. Smith’s innocence
or guilt. He made his ruling solely on the testimony the child made 20
years ago and her testimony in the court that day. Judge Gore then allowed
for a new trial and would let Smith await that new trial in freedom.
SMITH IN CENTER, ATTORNEY ROY TREST TO HIS RIGHT
Immediately after that District Attorney Rex Gore dismissed the charges
against Sylvester Smith due to a lack of evidence, the Judge set Smith
free with no charges pending. This could allow Mr. Smith to collect up
to $400,000 in compensation from the State. Prior to Mr. Smith collecting
his bonanza , the Governor will have to pardon Sylvester Smith. Governor
Easley tried Smith 20 years ago and won a conviction, Easley has not made
a comment about the case.
The courtroom full of Smith family and friends were over come with joy,
shouting cheers and a few “Halleluiah Jesus” in celebration.
quicktime movie of celebration
Sylvester Smith left the courthouse with his wife Phyllis , a free man. Smith was married to his wife prior to his trial 20 years ago and has maintained his marital status while in prison. Phyllis and Sylvester had a young daughter Nicole that tragically stepped in front of a motor vehicle and died December 6, 1988.
Prior to the hearing on Friday, Ms. Ann Ogundeji, the mother of the 4
year old, now 24, met with me to talk about her concerns. According to
Ms. Ogundeji, her daughter visited and talked with her about her decision
to assist Sylvester Smith by testifying that the rape never occurred.
Ann Ogundeji, the mother, was distraught and asked her why she would lie
on the stand and the daughter replied that she was in trouble and that
the Smith family has been helpful to her and promised to continue the
help.
The mother went to District Attorney Gore, just moments before the hearing
on Friday, to tell him what she knew from the previous conversation she
had with her daughter, and to say that she wanted to be heard in court
to dispute her daughter’s , soon to be testimony. Ms. Ogundeji said
that Rex Gore told her that she would not be allowed to speak at the hearing.
After the hearing, Ann Ogundeji spoke specifically about why her daughter
would lie on the stand to free a man that raped her 20 years ago. According
to Ms. Ogundeji and several other sources, the daughter was on the run
from the law because of her bonding out a cousin, that was arrested under
a false name, for a home invasion crime of robbery and an assault on a
pregnant female that took place at the Lake Garden Estates in Wilmington
this past summer.
Soon after going on the run, the mother said that the daughter and her
cousin took refuge with Lee Ethel Freeman Halyard, Sylvester Smith’s
sister. About this time the daughter was presented a letter from the Smith
family for the daughter to take to the District Attorney hoping the DA
would help to set Sylvester Smith free by commuting his sentence to time
served. District Attorney Gore asked the daughter if Smith raped her when
she was 4 and the daughter said he did. Gore refused to help and suggested
she obtain a lawyer.
In Friday’s hearing when the daughter was specifically asked by
Judge Gore, if she had any contact what-so-ever with Sylvester Smith,
any members of his family in any way in regards to this hearing she said
she had no contact. When asked where she lived, the daughter said Wilmington.
When asked if she lived with Lee Ethel Freeman Halyard she said, no she
did not live with Halyard. When the Judge asked his final question of
the witness he said, “ You have had no communication what-so-ever
with anyone related to Sylvester Smith about this?” The daughter
said “No.” Whether or not the daughter meant to say yes, she
DID NOT have any communications, or intended to say no, that she DID have
contact, was not brought up and the Judge dismissed her from the stand.
The daughter (the 4 year-old victim) of Ann Ogundeji gave up custody of
her two children in January of 2004 to her mother. This was the result
of an investigation and the arrest of Willie Stitch. Stitch lived with
Ann’s daughter and grandchildren in 2003 and when he was arrested,
officers found drugs and guns in the house accessible by the two small
children. The children were immediately placed in the custody of Ann Ogundeji
by Social Services. A few weeks prior to the November 5th hearing to free
Smith, Ann Ogundeji’s daughter came to take her two children with
her back to Brunswick County where the children are now enrolled in daycare
and assumed to be living in the Smith family compound in Bolivia.
Wednesday, Ann Ogundeji and her son said that they received telephone
calls from the daughter who said she was sorry for lying and she hoped
her family would understand someday why she did what she did. This completely
contradicts the sworn testimony that she gave on the 5th. She also said
that she was scared and extremely upset with the way things turned out.
Ann Ogundeji is worried about the safety of her grandchildren. She is
concerned that her 31/2 year-old granddaughter and her 2 year old grandson
may be in direct close contact with the man who she says raped her 4 year-old
daughter 20 years ago and whose well being may be in jeopardy because
the reports that the children were now living with Lee Ethel Freeman Halyard,
Sylvester Smith’s sister. She is also concerned that her daughter
may be placing the children at risk because of her cousin’s flight
from justice earlier this summer and the circumstances surround those
charges.
One of the more important issues regarding this case is the recantation
of charges made by a small child about rape and sexual abuse. False accusations
among children of an extremely young age are rare. In a study conducted
by Mark D. Everson and Barbara W. Boat, researchers looked at results
from the child protective files of 100 county social service agencies
in North Carolina. They were interested in the false allegation rates
of different age groups of children. They found rates of false accusations
between 4.7 percent and 7.6 percent, with rates of false allegations rising
with the age of the child. This means it is about 20 times more likely
that a child is telling the truth when accusing a person of a sexual assault
, than it is that they are lying.
Let us all hope that justice will always hear the words of a child and
let us wait and see what the real story is behind Sylvester Smith’s
release.
Names of the people involved:
Rex Gore – District Attorney 2004
Judge William Gore – Superior Court Judge who allowed
the motion 2004
Mike Easley- Current Governor, District Attorney 1984
Wanda Bryant- Currently State Court of Appeals Judge,
Assistant Prosecutor 1984
Mary Easley – Current First Lady and former prosecutor
with the rape victims unit
Roy Trest – attorney for the defendant
Sylvester Smith – defendant who served 20 years
in prison
after
careful consideration regarding the use of the victims names, it was determined
that the victims are no longer victims because of their testimony and
the court's dismissal of all charges
Gloria Ogundeji – 4 year-old victim, now 24 and
mother of 2
Leantha Smith – 6 year-old victim , now 26
Catherine Smith – sister of Leantha Smith claims
her sister is lying
Benny Ogundeji- brother of Gloria Ogundeji says his sister
told him she lied to help support the family financially.
Benjamin Peterson – 9 year-old boy, now 29 in prison
for a 1st degree murder conviction for hitting a man in the head with
a ball bat during a robbery at a fish market on Dawson Street in Wilmington.
Smith denies raping his cousins.
Brandon Smith- wanted for a home invasion and assault
on a pregnant female. Brandon is also Sylvester Smith’s nephew
Ann Ogundeji – mother of Gloria and aunt of Benjamin
Smith
Lee Ethel
Freeman Halyard – sister of Sylvester Smith and could be
harboring Gloria Ogundeji and fugitive Brandon Smith
Phyllis Smith – wife of Sylvester Smith
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
