Mr. Hinton will speak at Notre Dame Law School about his wrongful conviction in 1985, his years on Alabama's death row, and the experience of freedom. 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. Breaking Free From The Voice Of Perfection: How Gods Word For You Today: Jesus Is Your Friend, Remarkable Miracles That Are Available For You Too, Turn Down The Noise And Find God In Your Stillness, Prayer Is A Powerful Weapon 5 Effective Strategies For Breakthrough, What I Learned From The Chosen: God Loves Us Enough To Protect Us, Woman In Wheelchair Miraculously Takes Off Running During A Revival Service In Brazil. Your natural reaction was it-it's over. Today, as EJI Community Educator, hes a tireless and powerful advocate for abolition of the death penalty. Hear Marc Meros reflection on life inside the ring, what knocked him out and A woman is diagnosed with cancer and its spreading quickly. Error: There was an internal error submitting your form. Hinton also had an alibi he was employedata warehouse at the time of the murders, and his boss said on the stand that Hinton was at work at the time of at least one of the murders, Twelve years after the new ballistics tests were ignored by an appeals court in 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court finally overturned Hintons conviction and granted him a new trial, at which point a new judge promptly dismissed the charges, according to a release from the, Hinton was exonerated in 2015, when he was 59 years old, according to, Thirty years ago, the prosecution seemed deemed to take my life from me, he continued, according to an NPR, Hintonstarted a book club while he was incarcerated, and went on to write a memoir about his experience, called, , Hinton has also found success as a motivational speaker and fierce advocate for prison reform, having been invited to dozens of universities and conferences to share his story since his release, according to the, "Just Mercy" opens in limited release on Christmas Day, and hits theaters everywhere on Jan. 10. 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. By unanimous vote, the court ruled to grant Ray a new trial. The bill never even made it out of committee. On February 24, 2014, the Supreme Court today unanimously granted relief to Anthony Hinton, finding that his trial lawyer was constitutionally deficient. Theres five things theyre going to convict you to, the officer told him. At the time, Hinton worked at a supermarket warehouse and lived with his mother, Buhlar Hinton, at her home in rural Alabama, about half an hour north of Birmingham. 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. Ray has a strong alibi for one of the incidents, and the supposed murder weapon, Ray's mom's gun, hasn't been fired in years, but the authorities refuse to consider this. Hinton has also found success as a motivational speaker and fierce advocate for prison reform, having been invited to dozens of universities and conferences to share his story since his release, according to the Macmillan Speakers Bureau. As it concerns Alabama, however, a representative from the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama said that Hinton has yet to receive an official apology or any restitution due him from the state of Alabama. Jesus didnt say, Hey, when an enemy come across you, I want you to hate him, says Ray. Mr. Hinton walked out of the Jefferson County Jail a free man. EJI lawyer Charlotte Morrison explains. Hinton wasnt eligible to vote in the 2016 presidential election. 3. But it would be a single piece of evidence that held the key to proving Rays innocence. Discuss as an entire class. If you didnt do it, one of your brothers did. Using television and the Internet, CBN is proclaiming the Good News in 149 countries and territories, with programs and content in 67 languages. All Rights Reserved, U.S. History, U.S. Government & Civics, Criminal Justice, Legal Studies. The arresting officer told him chilling words he would never forget when authorities arrested him. See Innocence and Race. [4] Hinton's book received extremely positive reviews. But for all yall thats snapping the cameras, I want you to know there is a God.. 2023 The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., A nonprofit 501 (c)(3) Charitable Organization. The police turned up one day while Hinton, then 29, was mowing his mother's lawn; they. He said, Number three, youre gonna have a white prosecutor. Living the Christian life is a journey. What are the mistakes in the case against Mr. Hinton? Dont miss reporting and analysis from the Hill and the White House. But then, soon, he realized he became the person his mother didnt raise him to be. 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. We have a system that treats you better if youre rich and guilty than if youre poor and innocent, and his case proves it. Despite the new evidence, the courts still refused to reopen Rays case. He was going to be convicted anyway. Anthony Ray Hinton leaves the Jefferson County jail in Birmingham, Alabama in April 2015, after nearly 30 years on death row. [5], In November 2014, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals closed Hinton's case. Joe Nangle will also be honored May 19 Anthony Ray Hinton will deliver the keynote address May 19 at St. Bonaventure University's 159 th Commencement ceremony, almost four years after he left an indelible impression on the class about to graduate.. Hinton was released from prison in April 2015 after spending 30 years on Alabama's death row for a crime he did . Hinton was exonerated in 2015, when he was 59 years old, according to NBC News. Ive got to forgive, he said. I was released from death row. The arresting officer told him chilling words he would never forget when authorities arrested him. Anthony Ray Hinton did not sleep very well the night before Tuesdays presidential election. Hi. and "Y'all blacks always sticking up for each other."[who?] It was there on a panel discussion, Reforming Criminal Justice in America . If you have an immediate prayer need, please call our 24-hour prayer line at 800-700-7000. But on July 31, 1985, 29-year-old Ray's life changes drastically when the police arrest him for a series of murders that Ray didn't commit. 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. He also works with the U.S. State Department in a global online exchange program teaching educators and students to use comics to find their voice and to solve pressing global issues. 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. He said, Everybody that played a part in sending me to death row, you will answer to God.[5][13] Hinton filed a claim for nearly $1.5 million in compensation for his time in jail due to the wrongful conviction. Anthony Ray Hinton spent decades in jail for crimes he did not commit. [3], On April 3, 2015, Hinton was released from prison after Laura Petro, a Jefferson County Circuit Court judge, overturned his conviction and the state dropped all charges against him.[2][6]. Anthony Ray Hinton Equal Justice Initiative. By not voting, you allow people to get into the drivers seat that allows them to oppress you even more., For 30 years, Mr. Hinton was stripped of all his rights while he sat on Alabama's death row for a crime he didn't commit. I lived in hell for 30 years, so I dont want to die and go to hell. The gun belonged to his mother, but forensics experts hired by the state of Alabama claimed that it was the murder weapon. Twelve years after the new ballistics tests were ignored by an appeals court in 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court finally overturned Hintons conviction and granted him a new trial, at which point a new judge promptly dismissed the charges, according to a release from the Equal Justice Initiative. Read this article and answer the following questions. [emailprotected]. (S. Pelley, Life After Death Row, 60 Minutes, January 10, 2016.) In the first two robberies, the managers were killed and there were no witnesses or physical evidence . When Hinton convinces the prison warden about halfway through his three decades of imprisonment to allow him to receive books besides the Bible so that he can form a book club, the reader shares the exhilaration of Hinton and half a dozen of his fellow prisoners as they are finally able to travel outside the walls of the prison, through the words of James Baldwin and Harper Lee. Hinton mug shot. What challenges do you think theyd face once home after a long prison stay? For 30 years, Anthony Ray Hinton sat on death row for a crime he didn't commit 30 years of "pure hell," as he described it. A Christian man was falsely convicted of murder for 30 years, but he spent his time sharing Jesus inside the cells. In the interview, Hinton described how issues of race permeated his case. No one. But rather than pass reforms to prevent another innocent person from being wrongfully convicted and condemned to death, Mr. Hinton cautioned, Alabama is moving in the opposite direction. On July 31, 1985, the police arrested Anthony Ray Hinton for murder. One of the longest serving death row prisoners in Alabama history and among the longest serving condemned prisoners to be freed after presenting evidence of innocence, Mr. Hinton becamethe 152nd person exonerated from death row since 1983 when he wasreleased on April 3, 2015. And looked at the evidence and they said this is, you know, there is no match here. EJIs probe into Rays trial was disturbing; among their findings: witnesses had been manipulated, Rays defense counsel was inept, and the surviving victims initial description of the assailant bore little resemblance to Ray. The evidence against Hinton was scant: There were no fingerprints at the scenes and no witnesses who placed him there, according to the outlet. Anthony Hinton was arrested after the manager identified him from a photo lineup, even though he was working in a locked warehouse fifteen miles away at the time of the crime. For Ray, it was a bittersweet moment. What did I do? Police seized an old revolver belonging to Mr. Hinton's mother, and state firearm examiners said that was the gun used in all three crimes. I write mainly, not to express myself, but to encourage and bless people through writing. Overview: The struggle to adapt to life after conviction is a major challenge, especially for those who were innocent of the crime that led to a prison sentence. 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.. With no credible expert to challenge the States assertion of a match, Mr. Hinton was convicted and sentenced to death. "Real Love had no Color" - Falsely Convicted Black Man Encounters Jesus on Death Row, Falsely Convicted Of Murder, Man Spends 30 Years In Prison Sharing Jesus, Bob Marley Turned To Christ Before His Death Professing, Jesus Take Me, Jewish Woman Hears Gods Voice While Being Revived, Youre Not Dying Here. . What do you think can be done to change these racial disparities and to keep cases like that of Mr. Hinton from happening. I realized I was there because the wrong people were in office and I had a chance to begin to put men and women that are going to uphold the Constitution.. "To be accused of murder, itto me, it-it don't get no worse than that," says Anthony. New York Times bestselling book by Anthony Ray Hinton. Join Washington Post senior critic-at-large Robin . Managers John Davidson and Thomas. Because he was convicted of something, he didnt even do. Anthony Ray Hinton. In 1985, Anthony Ray Hinton was arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder in Alabama. For a Google doc version of this lesson, click here. He has one message for everyone who will listen: Our system is broken, and its time to put a stop to the death penalty. [4], Additionally, Hintons boss testified that Hinton was working at the time of the incident, and that he was cleaning the supermarket; despite this, the jury still convicted him. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! [4], The prosecution's only evidence at the trial was a statement that ballistics tests showed four crime scene bullets matched Hinton's mother's gun, which was discovered at her house during the investigation. Alabama inmate Anthony Ray Hinton walked out of prison Friday as a free man after 30 years on death row. Birmingham, Alabama, 1985. 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. Number four, youre gonna have a white judge. In the interview, Hinton described how issues of race permeated his case. He left Notre Dame Law students with a challenge to serve justice. Anthony Ray Hinton spent 30 years on death row for a crime he didn't commit. The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life, Freedom, and Justice, Rekindling the Power of God Within to Effect Change. Alabama On Sunday, January 10, 60 Minutes aired an interview with Anthony Ray Hinton, who was exonerated on April 3, 2015 after spending nearly 30 years on Alabama 's death row. Jacobs was afraid to publish or write her tale, but Douglass was not, and her story was published in many variations. They were both convicts on death row. He has spoken out against the death penalty, calling it a "form of lynching. Anthony Ray Hinton, who was on death row for nearly 30 years, had been charged and convicted in the 1985 murders of two Birmingham area fast-food managers. Anthony Ray Hintons memoir of his wrongful imprisonment for 30 years for three murders he did not commit is a riveting account of the multiple outrages of the criminal justice system of Alabama. What did Hinton say were the five reasons given by the police officer that guaranteed his conviction? 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. It hurts so bad, says Ray. He went on tospend 28 years on death row 30 yearsin all, without his freedom. However, the number of members also gradually became smaller when book club members were executed. All the while, Mr. Hinton remained at a prison in south Alabama, awaiting his execution. And I say that not with malice in my heart. This morning, he arrived at the polls and exercised his right to vote. Here's his story. Mr. Hintons release from the Jefferson County jail, where he was being held awaiting a new trial that was ordered last year, came close to three decades after a court-appointed lawyer mounted such a feeble defense that the United States Supreme Court ruled it was constitutionally deficient.. You dont know freedom until its taken from you, Hinton told The Washington Post on Tuesday night. He was convicted because hes poor, Mr. Stevenson said. On February 23, 1985, 49-year-old John Davidson, the assistant manager of Mrs. Winner's fried chicken restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama, was fatally shot in an after-hours robbery. And number five, youre gonna have an all-white jury.. Number two, a white man is gonna say you shot him, whether you shot him or not, believe, me I dont care, says Ray. Anthonys mother and best friend also were crushed by the outcome. Despite providing a solid alibi, Anthony Ray Hinton was still sentenced to death by the state of Alabama. I dont think the society nor the men that did this to me realized what they took from me, says Ray. But it would all fall on deaf ears, including his court-appointed lawyer. Prosecutors dropped the case against Anthony Ray Hinton, 58, when new . In 1985, Anthony Ray Hinton was arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder in Alabama. At the same time, Republican lawmakers introduced the Fair Justice Act. As Mr. Hinton wrote in an op-ed, had the Fair Justice Act been in place when he was convicted, I would have been executed despite my innocence. Like other men and women sentenced to death in Alabama, where there is no state-funded office to provide counsel for postconviction proceedings,it took years to find volunteer lawyers willing and able to provide the legal assistance Mr. Hinton needed to prove his innocence. As my good friend Bryan Stevenson says, the moral arc of the universe bends toward justice but justice needs help., How I got 30 years on death row for someone else's crime, 'I went to death row for 28 years through no fault of my own', Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. [4], Doug Acker, a detective, attempted to persuade Hinton to sign a blank sheet of paper telling him [Hinton] that it was just to confirm that he had already read his rights. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. Biden enlists potential rivals as advisers ahead of 2024, Their toddler took a nap in an Airbnb and fentanyl killed her. Tim Smyth teaches 10th and 11th grade social studies at Wissahickon High School in Ambler, Pennsylvania. Students will discuss systemic error in the criminal justice system and the real impact of wrongful convictions on individual lives. Anthony hated the men who did it to him. And number five, youre gonna have an all-white jury.. "Just Mercy" opens in limited release on Christmas Day, and hits theaters everywhere on Jan. 10. Anthony Ray Hinton speaks to students on November 13, 2018, in the . For more than 15 years, EJI attorneys repeatedly asked state officials to re-examine the evidence in this case, but former Jefferson County District Attorney David Barber, and Attorneys General from Troy King to Luther Strange, all failed to do so. With the help of his co-author Lara Love Hardin, Hinton conveys all the horror of his years in solitary confinement, barely able to breath in 120F (49C) summer heat, eating food that tasted like dust. Stunned, What happened to make him stop accepting defeat and start fighting back? But Hinton was ultimately convicted due to a gun that was discovered in his mothers home, where he lived. The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row. Mr. Hinton, during an interview in which he sometimes cried and buried his head in his hands, lashed out at the officials whose decisions he said had kept him wrongly imprisoned. Discover the book that broke his thirty-year habit on todays 700 Club. But the book club is short-lived, after the prisoners who are left out of it convince the warden it is unfair to allow only some of them to become readers. Bryan Stevenson told media this is a textbook example of injustice.. Ray still remembers one of their last conversations before Henrys execution in 1997. Anthony Ray Hinton, age 61, now lives as a free man in the state of Alabama, where he was born and raised. How was the case finally overturned? After 12 more years of litigation, theU.S. Supreme Court reversedthe lower courts, and a new trial was granted. This has nothing to do with luck. The 64-year-old, whose story was featured in the HBO documentary film True Justice, is one of thousands of formerly incarcerated Americans who are casting ballots amid a new movement to restore their reentry into society and a reckoning on criminal justice and racism in America. I say it because they took 30 years from me.. We conclude that they did not and hold that Hinton's trial attorney rendered constitutionally deficient performance. Anthony Ray Hinton Awarded Honorary Doctorate Degree, Alabama Man Freed After Decades on Death Row, Freed Death Row Inmate: Humor Saved Me from Satan, 122 Commerce Street Montgomery, AL 36104 Ala. I finally looked at you as a human being.. Do You Know These 14 Hebrew Names of God? Hinton hopes that will change, and his vote on Tuesday gave him hope that it will change soon. Still, even though Stevenson had new ballistics tests performed on Hintons behalf, the Alabama courts denied the appeal, after taking two years to deliberate. Deputies escort Mr. Hinton in the courthouse during his trial. In this lesson, students meet. Rays mother, whod visited him almost every week since his incarceration, died in 2002. 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. No one knows the hardship created by our inefficient system more than I do, Mr. Hinton wrote. God made it possible for you to know. He talked about his wrongful conviction, his decades in prison, and the lingering effects he has experienced after leaving prison. Love your enemy. The only way that we will ever conquer hate is love.. Anthony Hinton (left) with attorney Bryan Stevenson following a hearing at which EJI argued all charges against Mr. Hinton must be dismissed immediately. All rights reserved. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. Get daily or weekly highlights from The 700 Club delivered to your inbox. The panel questioned the findings of the Alabama authorities, but the state remained steadfast. In this lesson, students meet Anthony Ray Hinton, one of hundreds of people who were exonerated, or had charges against him dropped after hed been convicted and sent to prison. Why me? [10] The Court ruled that Hinton's original defense lawyer had provided "constitutionally deficient" ineffective assistance of counsel, and remanded his case to the Alabama state court for retrial. "Thirty years ago, the . After a few years, the club grew as the news spread quickly in the prison that reading was a good escape. And, haltingly, he began to talk about mercy. When Hinton told the arresting detective that he had the wrong man, the detective told him that he didn't care whether he did it or not. His peaceful morning was quickly interrupted when police officers - with a warrant for Hinton's arrest - taunted, handcuffed and arrested the teenage Hinton. [4], After Hinton had been on death row for about a decade, Bryan Stevenson at the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a non-profit based in Montgomery, Alabama, picked up his case,[4] handling his defense for 16 years. Hinton told 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley about a conversation he had with a police lieutenant after having been arrested: I said, You got the wrong guy. And he said, I dont care whether you did it or dont. He said, But you gonna be convicted for it. Anthony Ray Hinton was a man wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit back in the year 1985 and what happened was that two fast food restaurants in Birmingham Alabama were robbed and both Mangers were shot dead named Thomas Vason and John Davidson and on a later date of July 25th on the same year another restaurant was robbed in Bessemer The cop was right. Number two, a white is gonna say you shot him whether you shot him or not.. three, youre going to have a white prosecutor. Ray stayed on death row until the US Supreme Court overturned his sentence in 2015nearly thirty years later. So I believe in the promise of hope alive, he said. It only takes the first two pages of the introduction by the authors equally remarkable lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, to make the reader appalled. A total of 54 men walked past Hinton's cell on their way to execution. He was convicted of two murders in 1985. Anthony Ray, then a 29-year-old warehouseman, was mowing his mum's lawn when his life was torn apart in July 1985. Ive always felt that I have the Supreme Lawyer, says Ray. For your mom not to be here the day that you are released, to run into her arms and say, Im home, Mom isI try my best to be the son that she brought me up to be, says Ray. The lecture began with Hinton recounting the day of his arrest in extreme detail. The only thing reportedly linking Hinton to the crime was the word of a fast food worker who picked Hinton out of a line-up, leading to his arrest. Mr. Hinton spent 30 years on death row for a crime he did not commit. He has also guest lectured at multiple universities and travels the country giving professional development on comics as engaging literature. "If God hadn't intervened and sent me his best lawyer, within two years I would . 0. Firearms experts convened by an Equal Justice Initiative attorney testified in 2002 that the revolver was not the weapon used in the murders of the two fast-food managers. I even asked God, What did I do so bad?. In 1985, two Birmingham area fast-food restaurants were robbed and the managers, John Davidson and Thomas Wayne Vason, were fatally shot. SUPPORTED BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU. Anthony Ray Hinton spent 30 years in prison 28 on death row for a crime he didn't commit, and he has been busy since his 2015 exoneration. The judge finally dismissed the charges after prosecutors said that scientists at the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences tested the evidence and confirmed that the crime bullets cannot be matched to the Hinton weapon. By AFP Reporters Alabaman Anthony Ray Hinton, an African American spent 30 years on death row because, he says, he was "black and poor." His name finally cleared in Alabama, he now campaigns for justice which he says can only be achieved by beating Donald Trump at the ballot box. This article was published more than2 years ago. [3] A survivor of a third restaurant robbery picked a photo of Anthony Ray Hinton, then age 29, from a lineup, and the police investigated him. What are your thoughts about the death penalty after reading this article?
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