They began, he said, with his arrest in one shooting that occurred while witnesses said he was at work miles away. In 1985 Hinton was charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of two fast-food restaurant managers in Birmingham, Ala., with the charges hinging on a revolver that had belonged to his. Id., at 687-688, 694. But it would be a single piece of evidence that held the key to proving Rays innocence. Since Anthony Ray Hinton was exonerated and released from death row over two years ago, Alabama lawmakers have not only refused to compensate him for the three decades he spent on death row for a crimehe did not commit, but also passed legislation changing the appeals process in death penalty cases so that innocent people like Mr. Hinton now face aneven greater risk of being executed. To me this was a day of freedom dedicated to them, and all of the people who have been lynched, oppressed, or intimidated or disenfranchised from voting., From a symbolic perspective, it is deeply meaningful that Mr. Hinton voted today in Alabama, said Blair Bowie, legal counsel for the Campaign Legal Center, which focuses on voting rights restoration. I witnessed other inmates time run out, he said, and Id be lying if I said you dont ask yourself, Wow, is that going to happen to me?. His lawyer writes: Never have more guards, correctional staff and prison workers pulled me aside to offer assistance during the many years I have worked with Ray. Please check your information and try again or call us at 1-800-759-0700. On July 31, 1985, the police arrested Anthony Ray Hinton for murder. The prosecutors who filed the motion to dismiss the case did not respond to messages seeking comment, and, through a spokesman, the Alabama attorney general declined to be interviewed. The only expert willing to testify at that price was a civil engineer with very little ballistics training and limited by having one eye; he admitted in court to having trouble in operating the microscope. Today, as EJI Community Educator, hes a tireless and powerful advocate for abolition of the death penalty. Prosecutors dropped the case against Anthony Ray Hinton, 58, when new . But, Hinton was still convicted and sentenced to death. Anthony, or Ray, still remembers the arresting officer's chilling words. Hinton (portrayed in the movie by O'Shea Jackson Jr.) was arrested and convicted in Alabama in 1985 for the murders of two fast food restaurant managerswho worked at different places, and who were killed months apart that year, NBC News reports. CBN is a global ministry committed to preparing the nations of the world for the coming of Jesus Christ through mass media. and "Y'all blacks always sticking up for each other."[who?] According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Mr. Hinton is the 152nd person exonerated from an American death row since 1973. Rays mother, whod visited him almost every week since his incarceration, died in 2002. After a new round of analysis, prosecutors wrote, state experts found that they could not conclusively determine that any of the six bullets were or were not fired through the same firearm or that they were fired through the firearm recovered from the defendants home.. Thirty years ago, Mr. Hinton was arrested and charged with two capital murders based solely on the assertion that a revolver taken from his mothers home was the gun used in both murders and in a third uncharged crime. We vacate the lower court's judgment and remand the case . The civil engineer testified that the ballistics test did not link the gun authorities found to either of the shootings. His book is a harrowing masterpiece. Anthony Ray Hinton, age 61, now lives as a free man in the state of Alabama, where he was born and raised. A retired police officer in Essex County working as a private investigator and bounty hunter has sued officials in East Orange, claiming he spent four nights in jail after they arrested him on a . CBN's ministry is made possible by the support of our CBN Partners. I was released from death row. Hinton was convicted of murdering two fast food restaurant managers and sentenced to death at the age of 29. But then, soon, he realized he became the person his mother didnt raise him to be. There was no evidence at all to tie Hinton to two of the three murders he was accused of, and he was locked in a supermarket warehouse cleaning floors when a restaurant manager 15 miles away was abducted, robbed and shot. The evidence against Hinton was scant: There were no fingerprints at the scenes and no witnesses who placed him there, according to the outlet. Why was it important for a white ballistics expert to be hired? There were no eyewitnesses or fingerprint evidence; police had no suspects and pressure to solve the murders grew as similar crimes continued. [4] Finally, Hinton was the last prisoner left on death row. And number five, youre gonna have an all-white jury., Anthony fought to claim his innocence. Mr. Hinton hugs EJI lawyer Charlotte Morrison. Hinton was a special guest and speaker at 442 Orange St. on Tuesday evening for an event honoring the innocent on death row hosted by Jewish society Shabtai. with his arrest in one shooting that occurred while witnesses said he was at work miles away. According to Hinton, the officer who carried out his arrest said that he "didn't care whether I did it or not," guaranteeing he would be convicted. The credibility of his ballistics expert - the only one the attorney thought he could hire with the funds available - was discredited by the prosecutor due to the expert's physical limitations and lack of experience. Read this article and answer the following questions. In the first two robberies, the managers were killed and there were no witnesses or physical evidence . Indifferent to these concerns, the Alabama legislature passed the new law this spring,making it more difficult to obtain adequate counsel and imposing more unfair filing requirements. Alabama law provides that compensation may be awarded to a wrongfully incarcerated person if the Committee on Compensation for Wrongful Incarceration finds that hemeets the eligibility criteria, but applying for compensation is often a meaningless exercise because the statute requires alegislative enactment toappropriate the necessary funds. After 12 more years of litigation, theU.S. Supreme Court reversedthe lower courts, and a new trial was granted. Bryan Stevenson, one of Mr. Hintons lawyers and the executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, said Mr. Hintons right to justice had been limited as an impoverished black man. Some 300,000 Alabamians had completed sentences but still didnt have the ballot, according to the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit group working to create more fairness in the criminal justice system. In Alabama, he writes, judges are elected based on how many people they send to death row, not on how many people they let off., Hintons lawyer provides this ghastly statistic: With 34 executions and seven exonerations in Alabama since 1975, one innocent person has been identified on Alabamas death row for every five executions.. Anthony Ray Hinton found it easier to adjust than most people, when the pandemic first halted society a year ago, with its mandated lockdowns and widespread closures. Published: Apr. He also wrote a book about his time in prison called The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row, which has since been selected for . Streamed live on Jun 15, 2022 29 Dislike Share Save Washington Post Live 54.1K subscribers Anthony Ray Hinton was sentenced to death and held in solitary confinement for 28 years on Alabama's. Love your enemy. The only way that we will ever conquer hate is love.. He was going to be convicted anyway. What challenges do you think theyd face once home after a long prison stay? And so it was not until Friday at 9:30 a.m., one day after a Circuit Court judge ordered his release, that Mr. Hinton exited the jail to hugs, tears and wails of Thank you, Lord!, The State of Alabama let me down tremendously, Mr. Hinton said in his first interview after his release. Have students pair/share with a partner. We gonna have a white judge. Number two, a white is gonna say you shot him whether you shot him or not.. three, youre going to have a white prosecutor. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. A polygraph test given by police exonerated him, but the judge (now-retired Circuit Judge James Garrett) refused to admit it at trial. All of yall always doing something and the moment you get caught, you say you didnt do it. What do you do with that? asks Ray. Send a prayer request now, or call 18007007000. The only potential evidence that proves Mr. Hinton committed the murders depends upon an absolute, conclusive determination that the bullets recovered from their bodies were in fact fired through the barrel of the firearm taken from the defendants home, prosecutors wrote in their court filing on Wednesday. It was there on a panel discussion, Reforming Criminal Justice in America . Two days later, after serving 30 years in prison for a crime he didnt commit, Ray was released. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY: Copyright 2021 NewsHour Production LLC. Four, youre gonna have a white judge. Plus, two long lost cousins Hooked on drugs before he was a teen, a meth addict has only one goal in life. He-he-he's going to be executed, says Lester. 07.31.17. Students will examine the challenges faced by individuals wrongfully convicted of felonies. By Christina Gould, SAL Patron Services Manager. Anthony Hinton. Death Penalty Information Center | 1701 K Street NW Suite 205 Washington, DC 20006, Phone: 202-289-2275 | Email: [emailprotected], Privacy Policy | 2023 Death Penalty Information Center. Convicted, he was sentenced to death and held in solitary confinement on Alabamas death row for 28 years, before being exonerated. And, haltingly, he began to talk about mercy. They had every intention of executing me for something I didn't do. Anthony Ray Hinton (born June 1, 1956) is an American man who was wrongly convicted of the 1985 murders of two fast food restaurant managers in Birmingham, Alabama, sentenced to death, and held on the state's death row for 28 years. Prosecutors admitted that they could not match four bullets found at the crime scene with Hinton's mother's gun, and that this was the only evidence offered in the original murder trial. 0. A man released from prison after nearly 30 years on death row in Alabama has blamed his conviction on being black and poor. Arrested for a series of capital murders in his home town with no corroborating evidence, and with no history of violent crime, Mr. Hinton was convicted on the basis of testimony that a gun owned by his mother - which had not been fired in 25 years - was the gun used in all three murders. Hes also written a book about his journey of forgiveness and redemption, hoping his story will inspire change and healing. Hinton was freed on the morning Friday, April 3, 2015, the 152nd death row inmate exonerated since 1983, according to the Equal Justice Initiative. Executions are carried out in the name of the people of Alabama and we should all be concerned if we make oursystem less reliable and the execution of innocent people more likely. [5], In November 2014, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals closed Hinton's case. What was the turning point in prison for Hinton? "I woke up like I do every morning I knew that my mother was cooking," Hinton recounted. What evidence was given? I hated those men that did this to me.. He has received no compensation.

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