Man on Death Row 30 Years Cleared of Double Murder

Ray Hinton: 'They had every intention of executing me'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 3, 2015 11:48 AM CDT
Man on Death Row 30 Years Cleared of Double Murder
In this undated photo made available by the Alabama Department of Corrections, shows inmate Anthony Ray Hinton.   (Uncredited)

A man who spent nearly 30 years on Alabama's death row is free after a decades-long fight to prove his innocence. Ray Hinton, 58, was released this morning from the Jefferson County Jail in Birmingham. He hugged tearful family members as he walked out. "I shouldn't have sat on death row for 30 years," Hinton told reporters. "All they had to do was test the gun." Hinton was convicted of the 1985 murders of two Birmingham fast-food restaurant managers. Crime scene bullets were the only evidence that linked Hinton to the crime. However, prosecutors said this week that modern forensic methods did not show the fatal bullets came from a revolver in Hinton's home, or even from the same gun. "They had every intention of executing me for something I didn't do," said Hinton, who added that he would continue to pray for the victims' families, as this was a miscarriage of justice for them as well.

The Supreme Court sent the case back for a second trial after ruling last year that Hinton had "constitutionally deficient" representation at his initial trial. Hinton's defense lawyer wrongly thought he had only $1,000 to hire a ballistics expert to try to rebut the prosecution testimony about the bullets. The lawyer hired the only person willing to take the job at that price, even though he had concerns about the expert's credentials. At the time, jurors chuckled as the defense expert struggled to answer questions on cross-examination. Prosecutors had been preparing for a retrial but moved to dismiss the case following the testing on the bullets. Hinton's attorney said he pressed the state for years to re-test the gun, and for years officials refused. He said Hinton was convicted based on bad science because he didn't have the money to prove his innocence at trial: "He was convicted because he was poor." (More death row stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X