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Black teen's conviction thrown out 70 years after execution
by Joseph Earnest December 18, 2014
Newscast Media HOUSTON—More than 70 years after a 14-year-old Black American boy was executed by the electric chair in South Carolina, a judge has now thrown out the dead boy's conviction. The teenager was unfortunate to find himself in the category of those considered guilty until proven innocent.
George Stinney was found guilty in 1944 of killing two white girls, in a one-day trial before an all-white jury.
Stinney was subsequently electrocuted in the same year, becoming the youngest person executed in the United States in the 20th century. The 95-pound boy was so small he had to sit on a book when he was strapped to the electric chair.
The only evidence against the boy was a confession he allegedly made to police officers after hours of questioning, away from his parents and without a lawyer.
Stinney’s parents had been threatened that they would be lynched if they remained in the segregated mill town of Acolu, where their son was arrested.
The girls, 11-year-old Betty June Binnicker and 7-year-old Mary Emma Thames, disappeared on March 23, 1944, when they went for a bike ride together in search of flowers. The girls’ bodies were found the following morning behind a church, badly beaten with their skulls crushed in.
Stinney was arrested after witnesses said they saw him picking flowers with the girls.
On Wednesday, Circuit Judge Carmen Mullen found "fundamental, constitutional violations of due process" in Stinney's speedy trial.
"Given the particularized circumstances of Stinney's case, I find by a preponderance of the evidence standard, that a violation of the defendant's procedural due process rights tainted his prosecution," Mullen said.
The ruling gave relief to Stinney's brother, sisters and civil rights activists, who have been trying to reopen the case for years. Add Comments>>
Source: Press TV
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