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Hinton was sentenced to death and held on the state's death row for 28 years, and was later released in 2015. He has also guest lectured at multiple universities and travels the country giving professional development on comics as engaging literature. [citation needed] Hinton's mother died in 2002. Hinton was assigned an incompetent lawyer who was paid $1,000 by the state and then proceeded to hire an incompetent ballistics expert who guaranteed his conviction on fake evidence. Anthonys mother and best friend also were crushed by the outcome. 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 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. Stunned, confused, and only 29 years old, Hinton knew that it was a case of mistaken identity . As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. "Thirty years ago, the . But Hinton was ultimately convicted due to a gun that was discovered in his mothers home, where he lived. The prosecutorwho had a documented history of racial bias and said he could tell Mr. Hinton was guilty and evil solely from his appearancetold the court that the States experts asserted match between Mrs. Hintons gun and the bullets from all three crimes was the only evidence linking Mr. Hinton to the Davidson and Vason murders. It took almost a decade for Mr. Hinton and his lawyers to recruit a panel of experts, including a former F.B.I. EJI lawyer Charlotte Morrison explains. 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. Sen. Paul Bussman, R-Cullman, has proposed legislation to grant Anthony Ray Hinton $1.5 million over three years. Anthony Ray Hinton spent 30 years on death row for a crime he didn't commit. (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. 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?. Click here for more stories in the series and watch for more NewsHour EXTRA lesson content based on Searching for Justice stories. If you could speak with anyone interviewed in the video, what are two questions you would ask them? Stunned, confused, and only twenty-nine years . Anthony Ray Hinton was released from prison in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday. He talked about his wrongful conviction, his decades in prison, and the lingering effects he has experienced after leaving prison. 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. In 2018, Alabama residents who were previously convicted of felonies were able to register to vote under the Moral Turpitude Act of 2017. He must do exactly what he said he would do. The civil engineer testified that the ballistics test did not link the gun authorities found to either of the shootings. Soon after, prosecutors pushed for conviction upon him, and his appeal for innocence was defeated. But it would all fall on deaf ears, including his court-appointed lawyer. Anthony Ray Hinton spent decades in jail for crimes he did not commit. AMY GOODMAN: Anthony Ray Hinton was convicted of murdering two fast-food managers in separate robberies in 1985. 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. In his book, The Awe of God, pastor and author, John Bevere describes the many ways having a genuine and holy fear of God enhances the good in one A man who makes a vow to the LORD or makes a pledge under oath must never break it. In the interview, Hinton described how issues of race permeated his case. On parole for petty theft, the 29-year-old was living with his mom and working as a day laborer. 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. Then he found hope in sharing Christ during his nearly 30 years on death row. 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. Then Anthony spent the first three years in the prison full of bitterness in his heart. 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. He was wrongfully convicted of two murders and served nearly three decades in jail before being released in 2015. The Supreme Court is considering a challenge to laws that protect websites from lawsuits, Lesson includes resources to help you talk with your students about traumatic events, Read Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous speech and explore themes such as the social conditions in the U.S. that led to the Civil Rights Movement. Ive always felt that I have the Supreme Lawyer, says Ray. In April 2015, the state of Alabama dismissed all charges when state ballistics experts were unable to match the bullets to the handgun. See her moment of surrender, and the miracle of life. March 22, 20185:57 AM. This was contested by another expert,a civil engineer with visual impairments hired by Hintons public defender. Im Christel Berns. Because he was convicted of something, he didnt even do. That paid to keep him on death row for 30 years for a crime he didnt commit. What was the turning point in prison for Hinton? 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 [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. 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. By Jennifer Edwards Staff Writer. Discover the book that broke his thirty-year habit on todays 700 Club. Mr. Hinton hugs EJI lawyer Charlotte Morrison. Number two, a white is gonna say you shot him whether you shot him or not.. three, youre going to have a white prosecutor. Anthony Ray Hinton's story of being wrongfully convicted and serving almost thirty years on Death Row is one of gargantuan unfairness. This is my Yes to Papa God. 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.. 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. Hinton began his talk by explaining the context of his arrest, where he was charged with first-degree robbery, kidnapping and attempted murder. Davidson was still alive when an exterminator came to the restaurant and found him in the restaurant cooler . Anthony Ray Hinton was released from prison in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday. Write the Vision, Make It Plain, Run With It. And number five, youre gonna have an all-white jury.. 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. But in order for me to be free, I had no choice but to pray for those men that did this to me. So, Ray made a decision. Ray stayed on death row until the US Supreme Court overturned his sentence in 2015nearly thirty years later. (Teacher Tip the three charts in the article can be shared and analyzed without having to read the entire article.). #ElectionDay #Vote2020 pic.twitter.com/J2eFOWnheD. (You will need to make a copy of the document to edit it.). 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 They were both convicts on death row. 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. 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. with his arrest in one shooting that occurred while witnesses said he was at work miles away. 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. St. Bonaventure University in New York awarded Hinton an honorary doctorate degree in May. 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. The reality is much worse as doctors find a large brain tumor behind Hes known as Johnny B. Badd from the World Wrestling Federation. Ala. $200 per post at $10/CPM. Mr. Hinton spent 30 years on death row for a crime he did not commit. The only evidence that the state ever had claimed, connected Mr. Hinton, did not exist.. official, to review the forensic evidence. Discover steps to bring you closer to Christ. 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 . Mr. Hinton wrote: Because the so called Fair Justice Actnow pending before the state legislatureputs time restrictions on how long death row prisoners have to prove their innocence or a wrongful conviction, this legislation increases the risk of executing innocent people and makes our system even less fair. I mean ONLY.. They didn't care. 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. Anthony Ray Hinton, age 61, now lives as a free man in the state of Alabama, where he was born and raised. $140 per post at $7/CPM. I write mainly, not to express myself, but to encourage and bless people through writing. In the interview, Hinton described how issues of race permeated his case. by Anthony Ray Hinton with Lara Love Hardin The Sun Does Shine is a powerful examination of both our flawed justice system and of one man's personal resilience and faith. EJI attorneys engaged three of the nations top firearms examiners who testified in 2002 that the revolver could not be matched to crime evidence. But while Im here, everything around me gonna live. Discuss as an entire class. 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. 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. The lecture began with Hinton recounting the day of his arrest in extreme detail. This article was published more than2 years ago. 07.31.17. 24, 2019, 2:11 p.m. Anthony Ray Hinton, who spent nearly 30 years on Alabama's death row, was freed this morning after prosecutors told a judge they won't re-try him for the 1985 . 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. What do you do when you tell a lawyer that youre innocent and he looks at you and says, The problem with that statement. Moving forward, he chose to pray for those men who set him up instead. 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. Woman In Wheelchair Miraculously Takes Off Running During A Revival Service In Megachurch Pastor Who Left Ministry For A Time Returns Refreshed, Renewed, The Whosoevers Ryan Ries Kill The Noise, Finland Is Ending Homelessness With This Ingenious Idea, Why Friendships Are Vital to a Healthy Spiritual Life, Another Campus Revival Breaks Out At Cedarville University. Mr. Hinton thanked his supporters and legal team. [5], In November 2014, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals closed Hinton's case. 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. The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life, Freedom, and Justice, Rekindling the Power of God Within to Effect Change. Authorities arrested Hinton in 1985, after a string of robberies at restaurants in Birmingham. Hinton hopes that will change, and his vote on Tuesday gave him hope that it will change soon. BELTON Two Bell County men were indicted by a grand . . After a few years, the club grew as the news spread quickly in the prison that reading was a good escape. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! YouTube | 700 Club Interactive "There's five things they're going to convict you to," the officer told him. 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. 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. Students will examine the challenges faced by individuals wrongfully convicted of felonies. Casting a ballot represents a culmination of Mr. Hintons victory over that system., Voting for the first time was like a breath of fresh air. Read this article and answer the following questions. Tim Smyth teaches 10th and 11th grade social studies at Wissahickon High School in Ambler, Pennsylvania. Love your enemy. The only way that we will ever conquer hate is love.. (334) 269-1803 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. First, have students answer the following questions, either in class discussion or as written answers. 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. 2. Today, as EJI Community Educator, hes a tireless and powerful advocate for abolition of the death penalty. His book is a harrowing masterpiece 'Let sleeping dogs lie': Lynching memorial angers some Anthony Ray Hinton. As for Ray, the courts would continue to block his appeals for a retrial. 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. [4] Finally, Hinton was the last prisoner left on death row. Anthony Ray Hinton was convicted and sentenced to the most extreme penalty for a crime he did not do because of the color of his skin. Watch a trailer here. The refusal of state prosecutors to re-examine this case despite persuasive and reliable evidence of innocence is disappointing and troubling.. (334) 269-1803 And Anthony made a decision to accept the reality and still allow God to use him while in prison. 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. Please check your information and try again or call us at 1-800-759-0700. [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. 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. A polygraph test given by police exonerated him, but the judge (now-retired Circuit Judge James Garrett) refused to admit it at trial. On Tuesday, he cast a vote for president. [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. 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. Ive got to forgive, he said. 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. Copyright 2022 GOD TV, Simco Media LLC. Get to know others seeking Gods guidance and wisdom for life. I have no respect for the prosecutors, the judges. Anthony Ray Hinton attends "True Justice: Bryan Stevenson's Fight For Equality" New York Screening at SVA Theater on June 24, 2019. Police arrest Anthony Ray Hintonthe man they believe committed three armed robberies that left two restaurant managers dead, and a third wounded. Why was it important for a white ballistics expert to be hired? Stunned, Students will look at the ways race and other factors play a role in wrongful convictions. What do you think can be done to change these racial disparities and to keep cases like that of Mr. Hinton from happening. In 2020, all of the candidates he voted for were Democrats. The gun belonged to his mother, but forensics experts hired by the state of Alabama claimed that it was the murder weapon. Mr. Hinton was appointed a lawyer who mistakenly thought he could not get enough money to hire a qualified firearms examiner. I couldnt vote at one time in the state of Alabama, you couldnt marry outside of your race, you had to go to the back to get something to eat. Anthony Hinton. 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. He said, Number three, youre gonna have a white prosecutor. His book is a harrowing masterpiece. [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. Dick Kearns, Fr. and "Y'all blacks always sticking up for each other."[who?] He was 29 years old at the time. Legislators Wont Compensate Innocent Man for 30 Years on Death Row. Hinton spent 28 years on death row for two robbery-murders in the Birmingham, Ala., area in the mid-1980s. 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. Disclamer: the number about Anthony Ray Hinton's Instagram salary income and Anthony Ray Hinton's Instagram net worth are just estimation based on publicly available information about Instagram's monetization programs, it is by . In the first two robberies, the managers were killed and there were no witnesses or physical evidence . When life is unjust, turn your pain into purpose. 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. All Rights Reserved, U.S. History, U.S. Government & Civics, Criminal Justice, Legal Studies. All rights reserved. Hintons luck changed, however, when Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer with the Equal Justice Initiative, took on his case. On July 31, 1985, the police arrested Anthony Ray Hinton for murder. He said to Hinton, "All of y'all blacks always say you didnt do something. Hinton was convicted of murdering two fast food restaurant managers and sentenced to death at the age of 29. 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. Anthony Hinton (left) with attorney Bryan Stevenson following a hearing at which EJI argued all charges against Mr. Hinton must be dismissed immediately. 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. Nightline profiles Mr. Hintons release and his first days of freedom. And Henry said, Well, you know, Ray, Ive been reading the Bible. Jesus didnt say, Hey, when an enemy come across you, I want you to hate him, says Ray. Mr. Hintons application was approved by the committee, and this session,State Senator Paul Bussman sponsored a bill to appropriate the funds to compensateMr. Hinton. 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. 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. Here's his story. Send a prayer request now, or call 18007007000. Mr. Hinton walked out of the Jefferson County Jail a free man. 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.