and "Y'all blacks always sticking up for each other."[who?] Anthony Ray Hinton. Get a daily devotional and encouraging 2-3minute video direct to your inbox. $140 per post at $7/CPM. If you could speak with anyone interviewed in the video, what are two questions you would ask them? Share your prayer requests, receive prayer and pray for others! On July 31, 1985, the police arrested Anthony Ray Hinton for murder. Tim Smyth teaches 10th and 11th grade social studies at Wissahickon High School in Ambler, Pennsylvania. Hinton speaks about racism's role in conviction. 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. 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. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. [emailprotected]. 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. But it would all fall on deaf ears, including his court-appointed lawyer. 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. Published: Apr. It was 1986. 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. Hinton spent 30 years on Alabama's death row for crimes he didn't commit. [2] During the appeals, EJI introduced evidence from three forensic experts, including one from the FBI, showing that the bullets from the crime scenes did not match Hinton's mother's gun. 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. 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. 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. On Tuesday, he cast a vote for president. Have students pair/share with a partner. Their forensics experts were unable to match crime-scene bullets to Hinton's mother's gun. Please check your information and try again or call us at 1-800-759-0700. 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. In 1985 he was convicted of the murders of two restaurant workers in Birmingham, Ala. Thirty years later . Since his release, Hinton has spoken in various venues about the injustices of the Alabama judicial system and other issues related to his conviction and imprisonment. Number three, youre gonna have a white district attorney. 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. Ray stayed on death row until the US Supreme Court overturned his sentence in 2015nearly thirty years later. [8] In June 1989, that judgment was affirmed by the unanimous Supreme Court of Alabama. Have your students watch the video and answer the questions below. Anthony Ray Hinton, an inmate on Alabama's death row, asks us to decide whether the Alabama courts correctly applied Strickland to his case. "Just Mercy" opens in limited release on Christmas Day, and hits theaters everywhere on Jan. 10. 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 Mr. Hinton walked out of the Jefferson County Jail a free man. 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 . BY DEBORAH McKEON | TELEGRAM STAFF. 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 crimehe did not commit, but also passed legislation changing the appeals process in death penalty cases so that innocent people like Mr. Hinton now face aneven greater risk of being executed. Im Christel Berns. And youre going to take the rap. 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. 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. Anthony, or Ray, still remembers the arresting officers chilling words There are five things that gonna convict you. But last year, the Supreme Court said that Mr. Hintons defense had been unacceptable, setting up a new trial and essentially forcing prosecutors to review the evidence for a case in which they acknowledged the forensic studies were paramount. Stunned, confused, and only 29 years old, Hinton knew that it was a case of mistaken identity . 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. Despite Rays ironclad alibi for at least one of the robberies, and the lack of solid evidence, prosecutors pushed for a conviction. I have no respect for the prosecutors, the judges. 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. [4] Finally, Hinton was the last prisoner left on death row. "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. 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. Can God change your life? 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. I truly believe God sent me to death row to meet Henry Francis Hays, says Ray. He . 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. 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. 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 . He was wrongfully convicted of two murders and served nearly three decades in jail before being released in 2015. The gun belonged to his mother, but forensics experts hired by the state of Alabama claimed that it was the murder weapon. What did Hinton say were the five reasons given by the police officer that guaranteed his conviction? When Ray was arrested for crimes he didn't commit, he remembers telling the police officers that he didn't do it. 2023 The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., A nonprofit 501 (c)(3) Charitable Organization. Winner of the 2019 Moore Prize Finalist, Dayton Peace Prize, 2019 "An amazing and heartwarming story, it restores our faith in the inherent goodness of humanity." - Archbishop Desmond Tutu A powerful, revealing story of hope, love, and justice. 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. Your natural reaction was it-it's over. 4. The Exoneration Project, American Constitution Society, Federalist Society, and Klau Center welcome Anthony Ray Hinton, an Alabama man who spent 30 years on death row for crimes he did not commit. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row. However, the number of members also gradually became smaller when book club members were executed. Hinton hopes that will change, and his vote on Tuesday gave him hope that it will change soon. Alabamas Jim Crow-era constitution openly intended felony disenfranchisement and the biased criminal legal system that ensnared Mr. Hinton to work hand in hand to squash Black political power, she added. Hinton was sentenced to death and held on the state's death row for 28 years, and was later released in 2015. 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. In 2020, all of the candidates he voted for were Democrats. Despite the new evidence, the courts still refused to reopen Rays case. 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. Men indicted on separate officer assault charges. But, Hinton was still convicted and sentenced to death. After 12 more years of litigation, theU.S. Supreme Court reversedthe lower courts, and a new trial was granted. The legislature has resisted approval of this payment, as state authorities say that he did not prove his innocence. The lecture began with Hinton recounting the day of his arrest in extreme detail. Anthony Ray Hinton speaks to students on November 13, 2018, in the . Anthony Ray Hinton spent three decades on Alabama's death row for crimes he did not commit. He was convicted because hes poor, Mr. Stevenson said. This isnt luck, this was a system, this was actually our justice system, it was our tax dollars who paid for the police officers who arrested Mr. Hinton. 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. 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. 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 only evidence linking Hinton to the. In this lesson, students meet. Hes also written a book about his journey of forgiveness and redemption, hoping his story will inspire change and healing. I dont think the society nor the men that did this to me realized what they took from me, says Ray. 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. I have never experienced anything like it.. YOU HAVE 20,000 FOLLOWERS: $100 per post at a $5/CPM. Instead, he retained a visually-impaired civil engineer with no expertise in firearms identification who admitted he could not operate the machinery necessary to examine the evidence. In the interview, Hinton described how issues of race permeated his case. Anthonys mother and best friend also were crushed by the outcome. [emailprotected]. official, to review the forensic evidence. However, the jury disregarded his testimony because of his poor eyesight and inability to use the microscope correctly. 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. Although he spent nearly three decades on death row and solitary confinement for a crime that he didnt commit, Hinton said he still feels a kinship with returning citizens whose ballots represent another step in the direction of freedom and contributing to society as a free citizen of the United States. 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. 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. He went on tospend 28 years on death row 30 yearsin all, without his freedom. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! The court was unable to affirm the forensic evidence of a gun, which was the only evidence in the first trial. 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. Theres five things theyre going to convict you to, the officer told him. Hinton was 29 when was convicted and sentenced to die in the state's electric chair. 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. A Christian man was falsely convicted of murder for 30 years, but he spent his time sharing Jesus inside the cells. An all-white jury sentenced him guilty of two counts of capital murder and to death by electric chair.. This has nothing to do with luck. Mr. Stevenson said it was unclear whether Mr. Hinton would ever receive any compensation from the state. 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. But the state court of Alabama refused to overturn his convictions or grant a new trial. -- Anthony Ray Hinton spent more than half his life on death row in southern Alabama. The Lost Books Of The Bible: Should We Accept Or Reject? His book is a harrowing masterpiece. 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. But it doesnt matter. 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. See Innocence and Race. 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. Stunned, 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. 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?. First, have students answer the following questions, either in class discussion or as written answers. This is my Yes to Papa God. Watch a trailer. 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. It took almost a decade for Mr. Hinton and his lawyers to recruit a panel of experts, including a former F.B.I. Mr. Hinton, 29 then, was indigent, and the Supreme Court said last year that the lawyer appointed to represent him, Sheldon C. Perhacs, had mistakenly believed he had only $1,000 to hire an expert witness for the proceedings. In 2014 the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously overturned his conviction on appeal, after which the state dropped all charges against him. Ive got to forgive, he said. Hinton was granted a new trial, and the charges were dismissed after prosecutors said that the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences determined that the bullets that killed the restaurant managers could not have been used with Hintons mothers gun. Anthony, or Ray, still remembers the arresting officer's chilling words. Ala. To be accused of murder, itto me, it-it dont get no worse than that, says Anthony. 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, The Guardian reports. Students will discuss systemic error in the criminal justice system and the real impact of wrongful convictions on individual lives. 1. 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. So Ive got to forgive. Watch a trailer here. Perhacs hired a civil engineer who had impaired vision and didnt have any forensic experience. But that isnt what makes this a genuine spiritual experience: that comes from the nearly biblical capacity of the author to endure, to forgive, and finally to triumph. 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