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WINSTON-SALEM - A former Winston-Salem detective did not deliberately ignore evidence in his investigation into the 1995 beating of a woman, a city report released Tuesday said.

However, the report said retired police Detective D.R. Williams failed to properly document several aspects of his investigation into the December 1995 beating of Jill Marker.

Marker, who was pregnant at the time, was struck 20 times in the head with a blunt object while working at the Silk Plant Forest store in the Silas Creek Mall.

Although she eventually gave birth to a healthy boy, she was in a coma for months and suffered severe physical injuries and mental impairment.

Kalvin Smith is serving a minimum sentence of almost 23 years in prison for the near-fatal beating. He was convicted in 1997.

The city's report said, among other things, that Williams and another detective did not properly document the results and date of a polygraph test

"The inaccuracy of the detectives' reports in these instances does not appear deliberate but may be a reflection of the practice of delayed completion of departmental reports," the report states.

Williams declined to participate in the city's review.

The review states that there is no evidence that Smith's statements were coerced.

The Duke Law School Innocence Project began reviewing the case in 2003. James Coleman, a faculty adviser with the project, has told city officials he has affidavits from witnesses who testified against Smith at trial that their statements were coerced.

Coleman shared the affidavits with Forsyth County District Attorney Tom Keith on July 3, according to the report. Keith has said he will not share the affidavits with police until a protocol is set up for interviewing the witnesses.

The report will be released tomorrow on the Web site of the Winston-Salem police department.

Contact Amy Dominello at 373-7091 or adominello@news-record.com