The University of Mississippi African American Studies Program hosted author and activist Anthony Ray Hinton for a speaking event on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at the Jim and Thomas Duff Center for Science and Technology Innovation.
Hinton spent 28 years on Alabama’s death row for a crime he was later acquitted of. Hinton was sentenced to death and imprisoned for the 1985 murder of two fast food workers, with the only evidence presented at the first trial being a single handgun.
The forensic evidence of the gun could not be affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States during Hinton’s trial for appeal in 2014. Hinton’s conviction was overturned unanimously by SCOTUS. In 2018, Hinton wrote “The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row,” a book detailing his experience during his time on death row.
As the author of “The Sun Does Shine” and a leading voice for justice and redemption, students gathered to hear about his experience for the evening event.
Hinton detailed how he felt his upbringing and racial background contributed to his imprisonment.
“I spent 30 years in pure hell, in a five-by-seven (foot) cell, for a crime I didn’t commit,” Hinton said. “I was born Black and poor in a state where, if you don’t have the money for a decent defense, you are already convicted.”
Hinton also described the morning of his arrest.
“It was 1985,” Hinton said. “I had never been in trouble with the law. I was mowing my mother’s yard when two white detectives came up and told me I was under arrest … (they said) ‘You want to know what you’re being charged with? First-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree murder.’”
That moment changed Hinton’s life. Despite having an alibi and no physical evidence tying him to the crimes, an all-white jury convicted him.
“I could not afford a good lawyer,” Hinton explained. That’s when I realized being Black and poor in Alabama, you’re already convicted the moment you’re born.”
For almost 30 years, Hinton stayed in a cell knowing that the state had plans to end his life. Hinton shared how his perception of his situation changed during his time there.
“When I first got to death row, I didn’t talk to anyone for three years,” Hinton said. “Not even God, I was angry. I asked God, ‘Why me?’ … But I learned something on death row. You can either let hate eat you alive, or you can let love set you free.”
Hinton also recalled the story of one inmate, Henry Francis Hays, who eventually became his friend. Hays had entered prison as a member of the Klu Klux Klan and at first refused to speak to Hinton. Eventually the two started talking and became friends.
“I asked Henry one day, ‘Why do you hate me when you don’t even know me?’ He told me, ‘Because my father and grandfather taught me to,’” Hinton said.
As Hays’ execution day approached, Hinton was by his side for the entire day. When he was put in the electric chair, he was asked if he had any last words.
“For the last 15 years, the people I was taught to hate have been the only ones to love me,” Hays said before he died.
Hinton’s situation took a turn for the better when lawyer Bryan Stevenson got involved. Stevenson is a lawyer and activist famous for his opposition to bias for poor and minority populations through his non-profit Equal Justice Initiative. He achieved fame for his 2014 memoir, “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption,” which was subsequently made into a film in 2019.
“When I met Bryan Stevenson, I didn’t have much faith left,” Hinton said. “But when I shook his hand, I knew God had sent me him.”
Stevenson and his team spent 16 years on Hinton’s case to prove his innocence. When appeals courts ran more tests, it was proven that the bullets could not be matched to any gun linked to him. After years of being denied, the SCOTUS overturned his conviction in 2015.
“You can’t give a man back time, but you can give him justice,” Hinton said.
