Anthony Ray Hinton was released from prison in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday. The refusal of state prosecutors to re-examine this case despite persuasive and reliable evidence of innocence is disappointing and troubling.. 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. And I say that not with malice in my heart. In 2020, all of the candidates he voted for were Democrats. 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. And youre going to take the rap. 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. When he was 29 . Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! What are your thoughts about the death penalty after reading this article? And, haltingly, he began to talk about mercy. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. This lesson is part of NewsHours Searching for Justice series on criminal justice reform. He must do exactly what he said he would do. A jury found him guilty, a judge sentenced him to death. On Tuesday, he cast a vote for president. Discuss as an entire class. Theres five things theyre going to convict you to, the officer told him. [11] Hinton's original defense lawyer had wrongly thought he had only $1,000 available to hire a ballistics expert to rebut the states case on evidence. Despite the new evidence, the courts still refused to reopen Rays case. Pastor Glen Berteau wants to reignite the fire of God within believers that have allowed their faith to become dormant. 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. Feb 24, 2017 Updated Feb 24, 2017. (334) 269-1803 Hinton would smell burning flesh from the electric chair, also called Yellow Mama, because it was close to his cell. Fourteen months later, the district attorney in Alabama finally abandoned the case, and Hinton went free. Alabama inmate Anthony Ray Hinton walked out of prison Friday as a free man after 30 years on death row. 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. An Alabama man has been freed after spending nearly 30 years on death row. 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 was the 152nd person exonerated from death row since 1983. Number four, youre gonna have a white judge. 2. Anthony Hinton, 29 years old with no history of violent crime, steadfastly maintained his innocence. The New York Times bestseller and Oprah's Book Club 2018 Selection. This is my Yes to Papa God. The evidence against Hinton was scant: There were no fingerprints at the scenes and no witnesses who placed him there, according to the outlet. He was going to be convicted anyway. 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. A woman suspects a stroke as her eyes twitch and she experiences slurred speech. To be accused of murder, itto me, it-it dont get no worse than that, says Anthony. Get to know others seeking Gods guidance and wisdom for life. "[16] Kirkus Reviews calls the book, "a heart-wrenching yet ultimately hopeful story about truth, justice, and the need for criminal justice reform. Anthony Ray Hinton (born June 1, 1956) is an American activist, writer, and author who was wrongly convicted of the 1985 murders of two fast food restaurant managers in Birmingham, Alabama. Anthony Ray Hinton is an American activist, writer, and author who was wrongly convicted of the 1985 murders of two fast food restaurant managers in Birmingham, Alabama. Officers had retrieved . He was wrongfully convicted of two murders and served nearly three decades in jail before being released in 2015. Mr. Perhacss choice a man later described by a prosecutor as a one-eyed charlatan did little to help the defense, and Mr. Hinton was convicted and sentenced to death. Hinton spent 28 years on death row for two robbery-murders in the Birmingham, Ala., area in the mid-1980s. Moving forward, he chose to pray for those men who set him up instead. 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 . 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. After 28 years of living in a cell that was five . Ray would spend his time fighting not only a legal system that would block every one of his appeals, but the bitterness in his heart. Soon after, prosecutors pushed for conviction upon him, and his appeal for innocence was defeated. Hes also written a book about his journey of forgiveness and redemption, hoping his story will inspire change and healing. 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. . An all-white jury would find Ray guilty of two counts of capital murder and sentence him to death by electric chair. 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. Jesus didnt say, Hey, when an enemy come across you, I want you to hate him, says Ray. He told a gathering of family and supporters that "the sun does shine." Hinton, 59, wiped . We are here to help and encourage you! Do You Know These 14 Hebrew Names of God? After a few years, the club grew as the news spread quickly in the prison that reading was a good escape. Mr. Hinton hugs EJI lawyer Charlotte Morrison. We have a system that treats you better if youre rich and guilty than if youre poor and innocent, and his case proves it. In 1985 he was convicted of the murders of two restaurant workers in Birmingham, Ala. Thirty years later . [5][7] The jury disregarded the testimony of Hinton's boss, who testified that he was at work during the time of the alleged crimes. 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 Download the free myCBN app. And I have changed my views on so many things. Join Washington Post senior critic-at-large Robin . I have never experienced anything like it.. Deputies escort Mr. Hinton in the courthouse during his trial. [9], Hinton was sent to death row, where he was held in solitary confinement for nearly three decades. Then, another crushing setback. Two days later, after serving 30 years in prison for a crime he didnt commit, Ray was released. FLORENCE -- Anthony Ray Hinton was mowing the grass outside the house he . Having spent 30 years on. 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. [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. Ala. 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. Anthony Ray Hinton did not sleep very well the night before Tuesdays presidential election. [4] Finally, Hinton was the last prisoner left on death row. Then he found hope in sharing Christ during his nearly 30 years on death row. This has everything to do with the way we treat those who are vulnerable in our criminal justice system.. 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.. with his arrest in one shooting that occurred while witnesses said he was at work miles away. Anthony Ray Hinton, age 61, now lives as a free man in the state of Alabama, where he was born and raised. During their unlikely friendship, Ray saw God change Henry from a man full of hatred, to one who knew Gods love and had found redemption in Jesus Christ. 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?.