Exonerated After Execution: Judge Tosses Teen's Murder Conviction

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/exonerated-after-execution-judge-tosses-teens-murder-conviction-n270176

Seventy years after South Carolina executed a 14-year-old boy so small he sat on a phone book in the electric chair, a circuit court judge threw out his murder conviction.

On Wednesday morning, Judge Carmen Mullins vacated the decision against George Stinney Jr., a black teen who was convicted of beating two young white girls to death in the small town of Alcolu in 1944.

Civil rights advocates have spent years trying to get the case reopened, arguing that Stinney's confession was coerced. At the time of his arrest, Stinney weighed just 95 pounds. Officials said Stinney had admitted beating the girls, 11 and 8 years old, with a railroad spike.

In a 2009 affidavit, Stinney's sister said she had been with him on the day of the murders and he could not have committed them.

Stinney was put on trial and then executed within three months of the killings. His trial lasted three hours, and a jury of 12 white men took 10 minutes to find him guilty.

He is often cited as the youngest person executed in the U.S. in the 20th century. At the time of the crime, 14 was the legal age of criminal responsibility in the state.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

South Carolina. One of the few states that makes Florida look good.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

It's a shame this kid was treated this way. I read the case file. Horrible stuff. You couldn't pay me enough to live back in that time. They ran his whole family out of town under the threat of lynching. His legal defense was some dude up for reelection and didn't even try to fight for him.

[Teddy B 17,251]

Very sad story. I can't imagine that poor kid going through all that.

[decocker 7,198]

do they know who actually killed them?

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

do they know who actually killed them?

Never heard heard about it. Once they executed him, case closed. No one even bothered to look into it.

[JohnR! 5,495]

South Carolina Sovereignty Commission members perhaps?

Stinney was put on trial and then executed within three months of the killings. His trial lasted three hours, and a jury of 12 white men took 10 minutes to find him guilty.

Rally... Florida looks like a shiny start compared to any of those states....

South Carolina. One of the few states that makes Florida look good.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

South Carolina Sovereignty Commission members perhaps?

Rally... Florida looks like a shiny start compared to any of those states....

It wouldn't have surprised me at all. The murder weapon was too heavy for him to lift, let alone swing with enough force to kill someone.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

I wonder are they going to keep him as a stat in the "70%" or will they deduct him. I am sure the stats are not corrected after exoneration takes place.

[eieio 1,594]

a circuit court judge threw out his murder conviction.

yaaaaaaaay…….Justice is never to late!

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

South Carolina. One of the few states that makes Florida look good.

Nothing could make Florida look good. South Carolina gets props for this.

from Slate:

Ray Brown, who’s producing a film called 83 Days based on Stinney’s execution timeline, said he was overwhelmed by Wednesday’s ruling.

“It’s never too late for justice,” Brown said. “There’s no statute of limitations on justice. One of the things I can say about South Carolina and I can give them credit for—is that they got it right this time. During a period of time in our nation where we seem to have such a great racial divide, you have a southern state that has decided to admit they made a mistake and correct it.”

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Never too late for justice? Tell that to the dead guy and his family. Too late for them no matter what people say. He's dead and he shouldn't be. The state murdered him.

Oh, and South Carolina does make Florida look good.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Never too late for justice? Tell that to the dead guy and his family. Too late for them no matter what people say. He's dead and he shouldn't be. The state murdered him.

Not everybody thinks justice was done:

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Not everybody thinks justice was done:

Considering the way they handled everything, I'd wager he really didn't have a choice in the matter. His family was ran out of town, they coerced a confession out of him without anyone present except the cops, even his legal defense was shabby at best. That kid had zero rights at the time. There was no way out for him.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Considering the way they handled everything, I'd wager he really didn't have a choice in the matter. His family was ran out of town, they coerced a confession out of him without anyone present except the cops, even his legal defense was shabby at best. That kid had zero rights at the time. There was no way out for him.

Finney praised Mullen – who took nearly a year to write her 28-page opinion – for “doing a fine job of deliberating over some very novel issues that had to be addressed. As I understand it, this is not an exoneration of the young man, but it is a statement that due process was not complied with in the way it should have been.”

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2014/12/18/6639217/usc-professor-prosecutor-should.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.heraldonline.com/2014/12/18/6639217/usc-professor-prosecutor-should.html

Edited December 21, 2014 by I AM NOT THAT GUY