US man freed after 30 years on death row

A man who spent nearly 30 years on
Alabama’s death row was freed
Friday after a decades-long fight to
prove his innocence.
Ray Hinton, 58, was released in the
morning from the Jefferson County
Jail in Birmingham. He hugged
tearful family members as he
walked out and was embraced by
his sister, Darlene Gardner, who
said “Thank you Lord, thank you
Jesus” as she hugged him.
“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.
Hinton said he would continue to
pray for the victims’ families, as this
was a miscarriage of justice for
them as well.
“They had every intention of
executing me for something I
didn’t do,” Hinton said.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last
year that Hinton had inadequate
counsel and sent the case back for a
second trial. Prosecutors had been
preparing for a retrial but moved to
dismiss the case following the
testing on the bullets.
The Supreme Court ruled 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.
Bryan Stevenson, Hinton’s attorney
and director of the Alabama-based
Equal Justice Initiative, said he
pressed the state for years to re-
test the gun, and for years officials
refused. He said the case was
emblematic of problems with the
justice system.
Stevenson has said Hinton was
convicted based on bad
science because he didn’t have the
money to prove his innocence at
trial.

Amulation to him

I thank God 4him

eddyvic wrote:

I thank God 4him

Gud care

Yeah, trying to be brother's keeper..

Not an easy game o...

@ all.