In 1944, George Stinney became the youngest person in the 20 century to be executed at 14 years old. It only took ten minutes for an all white South Carolina jury to convict Stinney for murder in the beating deaths of two young white girls. Now 70 years later, a court ruling has vacated the conviction and cleared his name.
Judge Carmen Mullins made the ruling to vacate the murder conviction in her findings of “fundamental, Constitutional violations of due process.” The evidence presented by prosecutors against Stinney was the fact the deceased girls spoke to Stinney and his sister before they disappeared and the testimony of 3 police officers of Stinney’s confession.
Judge Mullins took account of Stinney’s lawyer offering no cross examination nor witnesses for the defense. There were also concerns that the “confession” Stinney gave had been coerced. The argument for the conviction to stand was made by Solicitor Ernest “Chip” Finney III at a previous hearing.
“They weren’t trying to railroad every black person associated with Alcolu and these little girls. They made a determination based on facts we don’t have today that George Stinney should be detained,” Finney stated.The attorney representing the Stinney felt the state handling of the case was beyond terrible and warranted another look.
“The state, as an entity, has very unclean hands,” attorney Miller Shealy argued. The family of Stinney has endured seven decades of anguish, never forgetting the moment thier young brother was taken away. Stinney’s sisters and brorhers gave testimonies early this year to petition for a new trial. “They took my brother away and I never saw my mother laugh again,” said Amie Ruffner, Stinney’s younger sister. Now she can say what the family has known for 70 years; young George Stinney was innocent.
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