What does a man say after spending 28 years on death row in an Alabama prison when being freed because he was falsely accused of killing two Birmingham fast food restaurant managers?This was one of the questions asked Anthony Ray Hinton 59, on his release from prison.
His capital murder convictions were overturned last Thursday after years spent in prison, by his lawyer, to prove that the revolver that police site as being the murder weapon didn't match the evidence at the scene.
Mr. Hinton explained to all that he was a happy man and while on death row, tried to bring joy to the lives of others. His attorney, Mr. Bryan Stevenson, described Mr. Hinton as a man who was loved by everyone in the prison including the guards. He made people laugh and brought smiles to everyone's face.
He also reasoned that he knew that he was innocent and if GOD wanted him to die, so be it. Mr. Hinton was a man with an impoverished background who had accepted fate because he couldn't afford to fight the racially biased system of justice that convicted him. Then along came attorney Stevenson and the nonprofit "Equal Justice Initiative".
Sidebar: The gentleman pictured with Mr. Hinton is Attorney Bryan Stevenson, the founder and executive director of The Equal Justice Initiative. The "EJI" has won numerous cases involving the release of wrongly accused death row prisoners and Mr. Stevenson recently argued before the United States Supreme Court and won a historic ruling that mandatory life without parole sentences for all children 17 or younger was unconstitutional. Mr. Stevenson is also a Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law and so far his efforts have freed 115 wrongly convicted prisoners on death row.
Absolving Mr. Hinton of the murders was a real simple procedure because all that the judge had to do was order the police forensic department to test Mr. Hinton's gun against the evidence at the scene, but he refused to do so. In the end, it took a ruling by the Supreme Court of Alabama to force the local authorities to conduct the test.
Even more absurd and an indication of extreme racial bias was that there were no fingerprints at the crime scene linking Mr. Hinton to the murders and no other physical evidence except for the questionable link between a set of bullets that were found at the crime scene and a gun found in his home. This obviously was just another case of "let's pick a Black man, convict him, and make this case go away".
On his release, Mr. Hinton stated that "he felt for the victims of this crime and those who prosecuted him will have to answer to GOD". He also opined that "the sun does shine and I'm glad to be in it as a free man.
When asked how he felt when he heard that he was going to be free, Mr. Hinton stated that he started to tremble but tried to remain calm and not get his hopes up. Only until he was in front of a judge in Birmingham, Alabama and the judge said "Mr .Anthony Ray Hinton, you have been found not guilty of all charges and now a free man". Mr. Hinton breathed a sign of relief, smiled, and cried.
When asked what he thought of the proceedings and the justice system, the most profound comment by Mr. Hinton was this, "when your freedom is in the hands of white people, you cannot count your chickens before they hatch". He then giggled at one of his own quips as he was known to do and ended the interview as a free and happy man.
The state of Alabama has no law in place to compensate wrongfully accused individuals for spending years in prison. Mr. Hinton will have to sue to gain any compensation for this very egregious miscarriage of justice, but if you watch and listen to this man, money might just be the last thing on his bucket list.
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Mad Man
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