Anthony Ray Hinton, 58, spent half his life on Alabama’s death row. He was
convicted of murdering two restaurant managers in Birmingham in 1985, but was
granted a new trial last year. The outside world changed while Hinton spent his
days largely in a 5ft by 8ft prison cell. Children grew up. His mother died.
His hair turned gray. Inmates he knew were escorted off to the electric chair
or the lethal-injection gurney. His lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, said his client
was convicted because he could not afford better legal counsel. He was set free
on Friday after new ballistics tests contradicted the only evidence – an
analysis of crime-scene bullets – that connected Hinton to the slayings.
“The world is a very different place than what it was 30
years ago,” Stevenson said. “There was no Internet. There was no email. I gave
him an iPhone this morning. He’s completely mystified by that.”
At his first trial, Mr Hinton's lawyer believed his client only had
$1,000 (£670) to hire an expert that could defend against the prosecution's
allegations about the bullets.
The lawyer hired the
only expert willing to take the job at that rate, and jurors reportedly laughed
as the expert struggled to answer questions during cross-examination.
The US Supreme Court
ruled last year that Mr Hinton did not have adequate legal counsel at the first
trial and said the case should be reconsidered at a second trial.
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