The 29-year-old found himself helpless and questioned God what he did so wrong for it to happen to him. On February 24, 2014, the Supreme Court today unanimously granted relief to Anthony Hinton, finding that his trial lawyer was constitutionally deficient. One of his arresting officers explained his fate this way, after the prisoner told him he could prove he had been working at the time of one of the murders: You know, I dont even care whether you did or didnt do it In fact, I believe you didnt do it. The Sun Does Shine is an extraordinary testament to the power of hope sustained through the darkest times, now adapted for younger readers, with a revised foreword by Just Mercy author Bryan Stevenson. Now a Community Educator with EJI, Ray is doing what he can to bring reform to the justice system. Hinton was freed on the morning Friday, April 3, 2015, the 152nd death row inmate exonerated since 1983, according to the Equal Justice Initiative. [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. [2] Hinton was sentenced to death and held on the state's death row for 28 years before his 2015 release. -- Anthony Ray Hinton spent more than half his life on death row in southern Alabama. [citation needed] Hinton's mother died in 2002. This was contested by another expert,a civil engineer with visual impairments hired by Hintons public defender. Copyright 2022 GOD TV, Simco Media LLC. "If God hadn't intervened and sent me his best lawyer, within two years I would . It hurts so bad, says Ray. [emailprotected]. In 2014, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned his conviction based on his attorneys deficient representation, and Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Laura Petro ordered a new trial. Among the authors whom the prisoners read and discussed were James Baldwin and Harper Lee. Anthony Ray Hinton spent 30 years on death row for a crime he didn't commit. His peaceful morning was quickly interrupted when police officers - with a warrant for Hinton's arrest - taunted, handcuffed and arrested the teenage Hinton. 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 crime he did not commit, but also passed legislation changing the appeals process in death penalty cases so that innocent people like Mr . Gonna have a white D.A. "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. Despite the new evidence, the courts still refused to reopen Rays case. If this is where God intends for me to be and die, this is where I die. "To be accused of murder, itto me, it-it don't get no worse than that," says Anthony. If you have an immediate prayer need, please call our 24-hour prayer line at 800-700-7000. Their forensics experts were unable to match crime-scene bullets to Hinton's mother's gun. YOU HAVE 20,000 FOLLOWERS: $100 per post at a $5/CPM. Discuss as an entire class. [3], In February 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States vacated the state court conviction in a unanimous per curiam decision. That paid to keep him on death row for 30 years for a crime he didnt commit. He has one message for everyone who will listen: Our system is broken, and its time to put a stop to the death penalty. Anthony Ray Hinton Exonerated After 30 Years on Death Row. As for Ray, the courts would continue to block his appeals for a retrial. 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. 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. 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 Alabamas death row. In 1985, Anthony Ray Hinton was arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder in Alabama. [4] Hinton's book received extremely positive reviews. Students will look at the ways race and other factors play a role in wrongful convictions. This lesson uses a video segment from PBS NewsHours Searching for Justice series. No one knows the hardship created by our inefficient system more than I do, Mr. Hinton wrote. Davidson was still alive when an exterminator came to the restaurant and found him in the restaurant cooler . I write mainly, not to express myself, but to encourage and bless people through writing. 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. 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. [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. 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.. No fingerprints or eyewitness testimony were introduced. [15] Writing for The Guardian, Tim Adams described the book as, "a story of forgiveness and struggle"[16] and concludes that, "his wonderful memoir recreates the ways he escaped from his cell in his head had tea with the Queen of England, married Halle Berry and how he shared that possibility with his fellow death row inmates. On parole for petty theft, the 29-year-old was living with his mom and working as a day laborer. He has received no compensation. The States evidence of a match was wholly discredited by three highly qualified firearms examiners, including the former chief of the FBIs firearm and toolmarks unit, who testified in 2002 that the bullets from all three crimes could not be matched to a single gun at all, much less to Mrs. Hintons gun, and found that her gun could not have fired the bullets from the third uncharged robbery. [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. [5], In November 2014, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals closed Hinton's case. Being locked up for 30 years made me realize how important the vote was, He added. Former death row inmate Anthony Ray Hinton, who was exonerated in 2015 after spending nearly 30 years behind bars in Alabama, says he has forgiven the state for its decades-long injustice. Pain and terror: America's history of racism, Let sleeping dogs lie: Lynching memorial angers some. [9], Hinton was sent to death row, where he was held in solitary confinement for nearly three decades. A polygraph test given by police exonerated him, but the judge (now-retired Circuit Judge James Garrett) refused to admit it at trial. In 1985, Anthony Ray Hinton was arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder in Alabama. Soon after, prosecutors pushed for conviction upon him, and his appeal for innocence was defeated. So I believe in the promise of hope alive, he said. Then in 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Rays case. [4] Hinton was portrayed by O'Shea Jackson Jr. in the 2019 film Just Mercy. What evidence was given? In recent days leading up to the vote, Hinton had been thinking more about his grandparents and his parents, who he said werent allowed to vote because of voter suppression such as literacy tests, polls taxes and intimidation. 0. EJI attorneys engaged three of the nations top firearms examiners who testified in 2002 that the revolver could not be matched to crime evidence. Moving forward, he chose to pray for those men who set him up instead. That paid for the experts who got it wrong. Using television and the Internet, CBN is proclaiming the Good News in 149 countries and territories, with programs and content in 67 languages. He was convicted because hes poor, Mr. Stevenson said. Mar 27, 2019 . 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. Anthony Ray Hinton's wrongful conviction and time on death row is featured in the upcoming drama, Just Mercy. The film, starring Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx, follows attorney Brian Stevenson as he fights for the wrongly imprisoned including Hinton. They were both convicts on death row. However, the number of members also gradually became smaller when book club members were executed. [12] On April 1, 2015 the Jefferson County district attorneys office moved to drop the case. He has spoken out against the death penalty, calling it a "form of lynching. When Ray was arrested for crimes he didn't commit, he remembers telling the police officers that he didn't do it. Having spent 30 years on. Following his release, Hinton famously remarked, The sun do shine., Thirty years ago, the prosecution seemed deemed to take my life from me, he continued, according to an NPR report. They just didn't take me from my family and friends. What happened to make him stop accepting defeat and start fighting back? Get more than a Sunday sermon. Ive always felt that I have the Supreme Lawyer, says Ray. . Only by the grace of God, says Ray. Tennessee Lawmakers Lynching Comment Sparks Outrage, Compared to Neighboring Tennessee, Alabamas Execution Review Falls Short, Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Man Sentenced to Death in Arizona, Alabama Man Allegedly Held in Jail Freezer Dies of Hypothermia, 122 Commerce Street Montgomery, AL 36104 Anthony Hinton, 29 years old with no history of violent crime, steadfastly maintained his innocence. He went on tospend 28 years on death row 30 yearsin all, without his freedom. The Equal Justice Initiative assisted Hinton so that he could cast a ballot for Doug Jones in the 2017 special Senate election. Anthony Ray Hinton was released from prison in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday. 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. This is the state of Rosa Parks who refused to give up her seat and we changed things through legislation and the vote. [4], After Hinton's arrest, his public defense attorney did not provide adequate counsel. How was the case finally overturned? BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Nearly 30 years after the Alabama authorities relied on analyses of a handgun and bullets to send him to death row, Anthony Ray Hinton was freed on Friday after experts undermined the states case. Ray still remembers one of their last conversations before Henrys execution in 1997. Smyth maintains a comprehensive website and blog on all things comics in education at TeachingWithComics.com. After a few years, the club grew as the news spread quickly in the prison that reading was a good escape. Anthony Hinton. His book is a harrowing masterpiece. What do you notice about the racial differences of incarceration in the United States. 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. This has everything to do with the way we treat those who are vulnerable in our criminal justice system.. But he was innocent. The only evidence linking Hinton to the. 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. If you didnt do it, one of your brothers did. 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. Since then, Hinton has been able to forgive everyone responsible for his imprisonment, because thats how my mother raised me and because I have a God who forgives. Men indicted on separate officer assault charges. On July 31, 1985, the police arrested Anthony Ray Hinton for murder. Anthony Ray Hinton, an innocent man, spent 30 years on death row in Alabama because, he says, he was "black and poor." His name finally cleared, he now campaigns for justice -- which he says. The civil engineer testified that the ballistics test did not link the gun authorities found to either of the shootings. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. We gonna have a white judge. He was convicted of two murders in 1985. Love your enemy. The only way that we will ever conquer hate is love.. Rays mother, whod visited him almost every week since his incarceration, died in 2002. We hired three of the nations best firearms experts, says Charlotte. The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life, Freedom, and Justice, Rekindling the Power of God Within to Effect Change. I lived in hell for 30 years, so I dont want to die and go to hell. He woke up at 5 a.m., showered, brewed himself some coffee and, not knowing how long he would have to wait, made himself breakfast that would stick to his ribs. 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. Hintons luck changed, however, when Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer with the Equal Justice Initiative, took on his case. "[14] He completed a memoir entitled The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row (2018), and has given readings and talks around the country about the book and his experiences. Officers had retrieved a handgun from Mr. Hintons home and, after analyzing it and the recovered bullets, concluded that the shootings were tied. Smyth has spoken about how he uses comics in his classroom at numerous conferences including Comic Cons in San Diego, New York and Chicago as well as at the Pennsylvania and National Council for the Social Studies conferences. Number two, a white is gonna say you shot him whether you shot him or not.. three, youre going to have a white prosecutor. Your natural reaction was it-it's over. (What were the five reasons given by the white police officer that guaranteed Mr. Hintons supposed guilt?) In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence. And number five, youre gonna have an all-white jury.. I even asked God, What did I do so bad?. When the very people that you been taught to believe in the police, the D.A., these are the people that are supposed to stand for justice and when you know that they lied to you, its hard for you to have trust in anybody, he said. 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 Under the Fair Justice Act, I'd be dead. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] "[16] Kirkus Reviews calls the book, "a heart-wrenching yet ultimately hopeful story about truth, justice, and the need for criminal justice reform. 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. 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. 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. Hinton's case was taken up by the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama. 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 Ray Hinton spoke at Allegheny College on Thursday, Sept. 20. . He . The lesson asks students to consider what it would be like to be convicted of a crime you didnt commit, or be a family member of someone convicted of a crime even though they are innocent. Anthony Ray Hinton attends "True Justice: Bryan Stevenson's Fight For Equality" New York Screening at SVA Theater on June 24, 2019. Today, as EJI Community Educator, hes a tireless and powerful advocate for abolition of the death penalty. 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 hated those men that did this to me.. Hinton hopes that will change, and his vote on Tuesday gave him hope that it will change soon. He added that from the outset, this case exhibited many of the classic signs of innocence.. 2. Prosecutors dropped the case against Anthony Ray Hinton, 58, when new . Mr. Hinton was appointed a lawyer who mistakenly thought he could not get enough money to hire a qualified firearms examiner. He told a gathering of family and supporters that "the sun does shine." Hinton, 59, wiped . By making the state postconviction process even more complicated and arbitrary, the law increases the likelihood that clients on death row will not receive full and fair review of their cases. The police turned up one day while Hinton, then 29, was mowing his mother's lawn; they. On February 25, 1985, and July 2, 1985, two fast food managers, John Davidson and Thomas Wayne Vason, were killed in separate incidents during armed robberies at their fast food restaurants in Birmingham. How the case against him unraveled", "Alabama death row inmate freed after 30 years", "Book Marks reviews of The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton, co-written with Lara Love Hardin", "The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton with Lara Love Hardin review", "Death row survivor returns to address #Bonas seniors", "Death row survivor Anthony Ray Hinton to keynote Bona's 159th Commencement", "They Couldnt Take My Soul": Anthony Ray Hinton on His Exoneration After 30 Years on Death Row, "How to Survive Death Row: Anthony Ray Hinton served 30 years in prison for murders he didn't commit.