After 30 Years Of Waiting In Death Row, Anthony Hinton Found Innocent

Anthony Ray Hinton was only 29 when he was included in the death row for two murders he steadfastly maintained he did not commit. On April 3, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Laura Petro ordered Hinton’s release after the new ballistics tests failed to establish Hinton's guilt.

Equal Justice Initiative, or EJI, is a non-profit organisation that provides legal representation to Hinton after his conviction. Thirty years ago, two separate robberies occurred at Birmingham fast-food restaurants Captain D and Mrs Winner that resulted in the death of their assistant-managers, Thomas Wayne Vason and John Davis. The felonies were distinguished by how they were committed — the victims were forcibly sent to the fast-food’s cooler, where they were shot in the head.

A restaurant in Bessemer was also robbed and its manager was shot, although the wound was not serious. Hinton was then arrested after the manager of that third restaurant identified him when he was shown some photos. Hinton insisted, however, that at the time the robbery-murder was committed, he was 15 miles away, working in a locked warehouse. Both his manager and a colleague supported his statement.

It was also known that before the arrest and subsequent conviction, Hinton lived with his mother, who died while he was in prison. The crux of the prosecution’s evidence was a revolver seized by the police from their house and which was owned by his mother.

Flimsy Evidence

EJI narrated that during his trial, the state firearm examiners testified that the revolver was the weapon used in all three crimes. The prosecutor said that from the physical appearance alone of Hinton, an African American, he could tell he was guilty and “evil.” EJI added that besides the revolver, no eyewitnesses could link Hinton to the murders. There were also no fingerprints that could connect him to the crime scene.

A shed of hope came into existence when the Supreme Court in a unanimous ruling overturned Hinton’s conviction, stating that his constitutional right to a fair trial was violated. The Supreme Court concluded that at the lower court’s trial, Hinton’s former lawyer thought his client could not afford a more expensive expert, and so settled for Civil Engineer Andrew Payne Jr. as his “expert” witness.

But due to Payne having only one functional eye and limited experience in assessing ballistic evidence, he was deemed unqualified and his testimony was easily quashed by the prosecution. The Supreme Court remanded the case to Judge Petro.

Washington Post reported that for years, Hinton’s lawyers questioned whether the bullets could be conclusively linked to the weapon. Chief Deputy Jefferson County District Attorney John Bowers together with Assistant District Attorney Mike Anderson filed a motion to drop the prosecution of Hinton. They argued that the three experts presented as witnesses found no conclusive basis that “any of the six bullets” fired from the crime scene came from the revolver. Hinton was teary-eyed when he was informed of the good news by his lawyers.