I said, Henry, I truly believe that you are going to Heaven, says Ray. The books are still passed around from cell to cell, but the meetings in the prison library are over. Dont miss reporting and analysis from the Hill and the White House. Then in 1998, the Equal Justice Initiative, or EJI, decided to take Rays case. Biden enlists potential rivals as advisers ahead of 2024, Their toddler took a nap in an Airbnb and fentanyl killed her. 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.. Published: Apr. "Thirty years ago, the . Hence, he asked God to remove the hatred and bitterness in his heart. Having spent 30 years on Alabama's death row as an innocent man, the now-freed 64-year-old knows about confinement. 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. Mr. Hinton walked out of the Jefferson County Jail a free man. I was released from death row. When life is unjust, turn your pain into purpose. In 2018, Alabama residents who were previously convicted of felonies were able to register to vote under the Moral Turpitude Act of 2017. Under the Fair Justice Act, I'd be dead. Police arrest Anthony Ray Hintonthe man they believe committed three armed robberies that left two restaurant managers dead, and a third wounded. That victim survived and then misidentified Hinton as his assailant; then the state completed this travesty by providing completely fake ballistic evidence to tie a gun found in Hintons mothers home to all three murders. Anthony Ray Hinton did not sleep very well the night before Tuesdays presidential election. and "Y'all blacks always sticking up for each other."[who?] Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Hinton spent 30 years on Alabama's death row for crimes he didn't commit. During his decades in prison, he was supported by his mother's faith in his innocence, as well as that of a longtime friend, Lester Bailey, who visited him monthly. All Rights Reserved, U.S. History, U.S. Government & Civics, Criminal Justice, Legal Studies. After 28 years of living in a cell that was five . Cases like Anthony Ray Hintons give the public pause about the death penalty, said Robert Dunham, the centers executive director. When he was arrested the police officer told him that he would have a white judge, a white jury and a white man was going to testify that Mr. Hinton killed a man. Because he was convicted of something, he didnt even do. Fourteen months later, the district attorney in Alabama finally abandoned the case, and Hinton went free. Hintonstarted a book club while he was incarcerated, and went on to write a memoir about his experience, called, The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row. Since its publication in 2018, the book has been widely praised, with Oprah Winfrey selecting it for her official book club last June and applauding Hinton in a string of interviews, according to CBS This Morning. Hinton was sentenced to death and held on the state's death row for 28 years, and was later released in 2015. Our tax dollars that paid for the judge and the prosecutor that prosecuted him. The engineer said that there wasnt any connection between the weapon and the shooting. What do you think can be done to change these racial disparities and to keep cases like that of Mr. Hinton from happening. [citation needed] Hinton's mother died in 2002. Ray was arrested, convicted, imprisoned, and sentenced to death for a crime he didn't commit. God made it possible for you to know. In the interview, Hinton described how issues of race permeated his case. (Teacher Tip the three charts in the article can be shared and analyzed without having to read the entire article.). However, the number of members also gradually became smaller when book club members were executed. . Read the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution below and determine which of the five reasons from the second question of activity 1 were unconstitutional. Mr. Hinton, 58, argued for decades that Alabama officials including the judge who oversaw his trial and is now retired had made a series of compounding mistakes after three shootings in 1985 that left two men dead and another wounded. The refusal of state prosecutors to re-examine this case despite persuasive and reliable evidence of innocence is disappointing and troubling.. When Ray was arrested for crimes he didn't commit, he remembers telling the police officers that he didn't do it. Wrongly convicted, he was on death row for decades. In "True Justice" one of Mr. Stevenson's clients Anthony Ray Hinton discusses his arrest. 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. 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. The gun belonged to his mother, but forensics experts hired by the state of Alabama claimed that it was the murder weapon. I finally looked at you as a human being.. So Ive got to forgive. Harriet Beecher Stowe and Harriet Tubman were two of the most well-known abolitionists.. Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs were both able to free themselves from slavery. An all-white jury would find Ray guilty of two counts of capital murder and sentence him to death by electric chair. [2] Hinton was sentenced to death and held on the state's death row for 28 years before his 2015 release.[2][3][4][5][6]. Ala. 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. He said to Hinton, "All of y'all blacks always say you didnt do something. 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. Get daily or weekly highlights from The 700 Club delivered to your inbox. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. But it doesnt matter. Their key piece of evidenceexpert testimony claiming the ballistics report of the bullets pulled from the victims matched a handgun found in Rays home. He-he-he's going to be executed, says Lester. In 1985, Anthony Ray Hinton was arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder in Alabama. 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. Anthony Ray Hinton, US, Speaker | 365 Christian Men Mr. Hinton spent 30 years on death row for a crime he did not commit. [4] Finally, Hinton was the last prisoner left on death row. Anthony Ray Hinton spent decades in jail for crimes he did not commit. Mar 30, 2016 Updated Mar 31, 2016. EJI attorneys engaged three of the nation's top firearms . EJI attorneys engaged three of the nations top firearms examiners who testified in 2002 that the revolver could not be matched to crime evidence. Anthony Ray Hinton blames racism for wrongful jailing - BBC News Despite the new evidence, the courts still refused to reopen Rays case. Anthony Ray, then a 29-year-old warehouseman, was mowing his mum's lawn when his life was torn apart in July 1985. He has received no compensation. When he was 29 . 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. 60 Minutes Profiles Life After Death Row for Exoneree Anthony Ray Hinton This lesson uses a video segment from PBS NewsHours Searching for Justice series. 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 mother. Then Anthony spent the first three years in the prison full of bitterness in his heart. Among their efforts for criminal justice reform, the non-profit provides legal aid to those whove been imprisoned unjustly. In April 2015, the state of Alabama dismissed all charges when state ballistics experts were unable to match the bullets to the handgun. Anthony Ray Hinton Wiki, Biography, Age, Wife, Family, Net Worth That paid for the experts who got it wrong. 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. How Anthony Ray Hinton survived death row. - slate.com 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. A polygraph test given by police exonerated him, but the judge (now-retired Circuit Judge James Garrett) refused to admit it at trial. 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?. This article was published more than2 years ago. (334) 269-1803 He has become an inspirational speaker, traveling the country and the world. BY DEBORAH McKEON | TELEGRAM STAFF. Despite his innocence, Anthony Ray Hinton lingered on death row for nearly 30 years for crimes he did not commit. And I have changed my views on so many things. It only takes the first two pages of the introduction by the authors equally remarkable lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, to make the reader appalled. In 1985, Anthony Ray Hinton was arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder in Alabama. 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. 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. And number five, youre gonna have an all-white jury.. Anthony Ray Hinton leaves the Jefferson County jail in Birmingham, Alabama in April 2015, after nearly 30 years on death row. Number three, youre gonna have a white district attorney. Why was it important for a white ballistics expert to be hired? 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. [3], In February 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States vacated the state court conviction in a unanimous per curiam decision. 30-Year Alabama Death Row Inmate Uses Computer, ATMs for First Time Then he found hope in sharing Christ during his nearly 30 years on death row. Anthony Ray Hinton's story of being wrongfully convicted and serving almost thirty years on Death Row is one of gargantuan unfairness. Anthony Hinton (left) with attorney Bryan Stevenson following a hearing at which EJI argued all charges against Mr. Hinton must be dismissed immediately. Wrongly jailed for 30 years, Black Alabaman says justice requires voting