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He Spent 30 YEARS on Death Row for a Crime He Didn’t Commit | Anthony Ray Hinton — Transcript

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0:09Hello and welcome to Twin Watts 777.
0:12Today we're going to be talking about
0:14Anthony Ray Hinton. And for those who
0:18are not familiar with who he is, I am
0:22going to go over here and give you a
0:24brief um introduction into who he is. So
0:29this picture is him right here and this
0:32was taken in 2019. He was born June 1st,
0:361956, age 69, Alabama, US
0:41occupation. He is an Arthur activist and
0:45he's known for being wrongfully
0:47convicted of murder, a criminal justice
0:50reform and a death penalty activism. and
0:53he's a author and he wrote the book The
0:57Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and
1:01Freedom on Death Row. So, I'm going to
1:05go down here and I'm going to also read
1:08you a little bit of the background. So
1:10on February the 5th, 1985 and on July
1:142nd, 1985, two fast food managers, John
1:19Davidson and Thomas Wayne Vas were
1:22killed in separate incidents during aunt
1:24robberies at their fast food restaurants
1:27in Birmingham. A survivor of a third
1:31restaurant robbery, Sydney Smotherman,
1:34picked a photo of Anthony Ray Hinton,
1:37then aged 29, from the lineup and the
1:41police investigated him. At the time,
1:43Hitten worked at a supermarket warehouse
1:46and lived with his mother, Buard Hinton,
1:50at her home in rural Alabama about half
1:53an hour north of Birmingham. So, he was
1:57arrested uh shortly after
2:01uh Detective Doug Aker told Hinton, "I
2:04don't care whether you did it or not."
2:07Wait, wait, let me go. I don't care
2:09whether you did or didn't do it. In
2:12fact, I believe you did do it, but it
2:16doesn't matter if you didn't do it. One
2:18of your brothers did. That must have
2:21been a white cop.
2:24and you're going to take the rap. So, it
2:27just seems right here they already had
2:29him uh uh tried and convicted
2:33even before he even stepped into a
2:35quarter law. What happened to innocent
2:37but uh until proven guilty?
2:40Wow. Okay. So, um Detective uh Aker went
2:46on to say, "I can give you five reasons
2:48why they are going to convict you.
2:51Number one, you're black. Number two, a
2:54white man going to say you shot him.
2:57Number three, you're going to have a
2:59white district DA. And number four,
3:02you're going to have a white judge. And
3:05number five, you're going to have an all
3:08white jury. Yep, that sounds just about
3:11right back in those times. So now I'm
3:14going to go over here and we're going to
3:16watch a video of him. Uh so let's go
3:20ahead.
3:23in it to the video.
3:24>> Anthony Ray Hinton spent 30 years in
3:26prison for his wrongful conviction. One
3:28of the most incredible stories I've ever
3:30heard.
3:31>> A case that's garnered national
3:32attention.
3:33>> One of the worst nightmares out there.
3:35>> He said, "I don't care whether you did
3:37it [music] or didn't do it, but I'm
3:38going to make sure you found guilt of
3:40it. I just somehow
3:44>> Oh, yeah.
3:44>> Anthony Ray Hinton spent 30 years in
3:46prison for his wrongful conviction." One
3:49of [music] the most incredible stories
3:50I've ever heard.
3:51>> A case that's garnered national
3:53attention.
3:54>> One of the worst nightmares out there.
3:56>> He said, "I don't care whether you did
3:57[music] it or didn't do it, but I'm
3:59going to make sure you found guilty of
4:01it."
4:01>> I just somehow wanted to protect my mom.
4:05I didn't [music] quite know whether she
4:06understood.
4:08>> He wasn't convicted because he committed
4:09a crime. He was convicted because he was
4:11poor. I
4:12>> had never been so [music] convinced of
4:13someone's innocence than I had in Mr.
4:15Hinton's case. Very scary to think that
4:17a man could be killed if he's actually
4:19innocent.
4:20>> Anthony suffered in isolation and
4:22darkness.
4:23>> I'm so sorry.
4:24>> How long will it be before they come and
4:27get me?
4:27>> The last time she saw you, he said,
4:29"Son, when are you coming home? When are
4:31you coming home?"
4:32>> He said, "Whether you shot him or not, I
4:35don't care. You have been found guilty.
4:38I sentence you to death."
4:40>> The entire country was watching
4:43>> 30 years of pure hell. an incredible
4:45story of [music] faith and resilience. I
4:48don't know if I could have done it.
4:49>> It can't get no lower for me. I've seen
4:52hate at it worst.
4:54>> He was ordered to spend the remainder of
4:55his life [music] in prison
4:56>> right next to a convicted KKK member.
4:59>> Oh my god.
5:01>> There stood two white gentlemen that I
5:03never seen before. I said, "Can I help
5:06you?" He said, "We have a warrant for
5:08your arrest. We want you to put your
5:10hands behind your back." I show my
5:13mother the handcuff and like any good
5:15mother, she began to scream and holler,
5:18"What are those handcuffs doing on my
5:20baby?" This seemed to set the detective
5:23off. He turned around, he looked at me
5:24and he said, "We have decided [music]
5:28that we're going to charge you with two
5:30counts of [music] firstdegree capital
5:33murder." I said, "But I haven't done any
5:36of that. You got the wrong person." He
5:38said, "Let me tell you something right
5:40now. I don't care whether you did it or
5:43didn't do it. He said, "But I'm going to
5:45make sure you [music] found guilty."
5:47>> My Lord, do you see this is Oh, God.
5:50This makes me want to cry so so so so
5:55my heart is bleeding for this man. Um,
5:59but I was, do you see how the system was
6:02set up against black people from the
6:06start, even all the way back um, back
6:10then? It's like we did not even have a
6:12chance. Uh uh especially if you're poor
6:15and you couldn't afford the resources to
6:19um defend yourself. He spent 30 years in
6:23jail, solitary confinement, already
6:27convicted before he even stepped foot in
6:30the courtroom. So it it what?
6:36There's five things that going to
6:38convict you. He said, "Number one, you
6:41black. Number two, a white man is going
6:44to say you shot him. Whether you shot
6:46him or not, I don't care." [music]
6:49He said, "Number three, you're going to
6:52have a white prosecutor. Number four,
6:54you going to have a white judge. And
6:57number five,
6:59you going to have an all-white [music]
7:00jury." He said, "Do you know what that
7:03spell?"
7:05And he looked at me and he said,
7:07"Conviction, conviction, [music]
7:09conviction, conviction, conviction."
7:14He said, "I really believe you didn't do
7:16it." He said, "But [music] since y'all
7:18is always taking up from one another,"
7:21he said, "Take this for your homeboy."
7:24I goes before [music] a judge.
7:27The judge proudly stand up and say,
7:29"Anthony Ray Hinton, [music]
7:31you have been found guilty." And it is
7:34the order [music] of discord that I
7:37sentence you to death.
7:41I really lost sight for a few seconds. I
7:45was just totally in shock. I just
7:49somehow wanted to protect my mom. I
7:52didn't quite know whether she
7:54understood.
7:56I didn't want the world to believe that
7:59my mom had raised a son that was capable
8:04of taking another human being life.
8:07[music] And so I asked God to let the
8:10truth come out.
8:12>> The last time she saw you and every time
8:14she heard your voice, it said, [music]
8:16"Son, when are you coming home?"
8:17>> Yes.
8:17>> When are you coming home?
8:19>> She would ask me that and I [music] I
8:22lied to her every time she asked me.
8:24Mhm.
8:25>> Mama, they working on it. Uh or they
8:28just going to take some time. And I was
8:32transported to death row. I did not say
8:35a word to another human being for 3
8:38years going into the fourth year.
8:43I woke up approximately 1:00 a.m. to the
8:46sound of a grown man crying. A man that
8:48I had lived by should never asked him
8:52his name or where he was from.
8:55But at an early age, my mother taught me
8:57compassion.
8:59My mother taught me no matter what one
9:01does in life, he or she still deserve
9:04compassion. And it was that compassion
9:07that I hollered through this brick wall.
9:10And I said, "Sir, do you need me to call
9:13and get the officer back here?" He said,
9:15"No." "My name's [music] Ray," I said.
9:20There was silence.
9:22There was [music] something in this
9:23guy's voice. He sounded alone.
9:27I'm from Praco, I said. [music]
9:29Am proud to be the son of Ber Hinton,
9:32the best mother God ever sent down to
9:33[music] this earth who can make a pie
9:35like an angel and swat you like the
9:37devil if you try to eat it before she
9:39says so.
9:41I heard a few guys laugh, but I didn't
9:43know if the guy whose name I was waiting
9:45on was one of them.
9:47My [music] mom makes a pretty good pie
9:48herself. He finally said, "My name is
9:51Henry."
9:53>> Henry was uh a crew [music] clansman
9:57son. His daddy was a grand wizard in the
10:00clans organization. Henry's father was
10:03upset that a black man had [music] got
10:04found not guilty in a murder trial and
10:07he ordered them to go out and kill the
10:09[music] first black man that they came
10:10across. As I got to know Henry and and
10:14realized Henry [music] had been taught
10:15to hate all this life,
10:18>> I had no anger toward Henry. He had
10:20[music] been taught to fear blacks. He
10:23had been trained to hate.
10:26But Henry and [music] I became friends.
10:27And before Henry was moved to the death
10:29room to wait for his execution, we
10:32talked one [music] last time.
10:34I'm sorry, Ray. I'm sorry for what I
10:37done. I know you are. God knows [music]
10:39you are. I don't know if I ever told you
10:42this, but I have a brother named Ray.
10:44He's my brother, too.
10:47I could [music] hear that Henry was
10:48crying, and my heart broke for him.
10:51Henry was my friend. It wasn't
10:53complicated. I would show him compassion
10:56because that's how I was raised. [music]
10:58Compassion doesn't know what color you
11:00are. And I think Henry felt more love
11:02from the black men on death
11:04>> [music]
11:04>> row than he ever did at a KKK meeting or
11:07from his own father and mother.
11:09>> [music]
11:09>> And I was told that Henry said,
11:12"All of my life,
11:15my father, my mother, my [music]
11:16community taught me to hate. The very
11:20people that they taught me to hate are
11:21the very people that taught me how to
11:23love."
11:24>> And tonight, as I leave this [music]
11:27world, I leave this world
11:35[music] knowing what love feel like.
11:42And I often say that if we can teach
11:44people to hate, we should be able to
11:47teach them to love.
11:49I really believe Henry left this world a
11:51better man that he came in. In 30 years,
11:55I witnessed 54 men
11:58walk by my sail only to be executed.
12:02And I kept saying, "How long can I
12:05survive this madness? How long
12:10will it be before they come and get me?"
12:14The night I found out that my mom had
12:17died.
12:19I really didn't give a damn
12:22will I live. And that night as I tried
12:25to sleep,
12:27it was as though my [music] mom came in
12:28and sailed and stayed in my ear all
12:30night long. And I could hear her saying,
12:33"I did not bring [music] you up to be a
12:35quarter."
12:37And early that morning,
12:39I called Mr. Stevenson and I said, "Mr.
12:41Stevenson,
12:43I want you to give the state of Alabama
12:46all the hell you can give."
12:49>> Stevenson and the Equal Justice
12:50Initiative spent 16 years working on Mr.
12:53Hinton's case.
12:55>> Mr. Hinton should have never been
12:56convicted. He wasn't convicted because
12:58he committed a crime. He was convicted
13:00because he was poor.
13:01>> [music]
13:01>> and didn't have the resources to prove
13:03his innocence. The United States Supreme
13:05Court did finally intervene.
13:07>> The result was a new trial. [music] The
13:08break Hinton had been waiting for. The
13:10state of Alabama dropped the case after
13:12a new look [music] at the evidence.
13:14Could not match the bullets to the gun.
13:17And Hinton was released.
13:19>> Thank you, Jesus.
13:21Thank you, Lord.
13:23>> It took Mr. Stevenson 16 long years to
13:27finally win my freedom. Would
13:32you believe this? The first time I've
13:34been in the rain in 30 years.
13:37>> It was wonderful. I I mean, I could have
13:39just stayed in the rain that whole day
13:43if if I could have. And everybody kept
13:45saying, "Get out of the rain. You get
13:46sick." I said, "I haven't had rain on my
13:49body for 30 years."
13:52My mom, uh, I still love her and
13:55although she's not here, she will always
13:57be here. [music] Uh there's not a day
13:59that go by, not a night that I don't
14:01take her photo and kiss and say good
14:03night. Mom, my mother had worked all her
14:06life to have a home built. And when I
14:09came home, [music] I wanted to fix this
14:12old house up. And it has a connection
14:16with me and her. And I did it in her
14:19memory.
14:21Just because someone do you wrong, it
14:24don't make [music]
14:25it right that you go do them wrong. I
14:28can dwell on the negative and never
14:31grow. So, I choose to embrace
14:36uh the good.
14:37>> I don't sense any bitterness. Why is
14:40that? Bitterness [music] kills the soul.
14:44>> I
14:46cannot hate. I've seen hate at its
14:50worst. What would it profit [music] me
14:53to hate? Defro taught me that either
14:56[music] you love or you hate. Defro
14:59taught me you either help or you harm.
15:01Deathro taught me no matter where we
15:03are, we still can love and we still can
15:06[music] help one another. If we can
15:08teach people to hate, we should be able
15:11to teach them to love.
15:18Wow.
15:21Wow.
15:24I am definitely at a loss for words with
15:27this story.
15:30Wow.
15:32Wow.
15:36Wow. So,
15:40um, Mr. Hinton
15:42went on to file a $1.5
15:46million
15:49uh lawsuit
15:51and
15:53um they haven't paid him yet. uh he
15:57filed it against the state of Alabama.
16:01And um to this day,
16:05what I read here,
16:09um even though they made a law and they
16:13passed a law, they still have not paid
16:17him a single penny of it.
16:22So
16:24Anthony Ray Hinton was not received I'm
16:27sorry I said a lawsuit is uh
16:29compensation
16:31from Alabama for his wrongful
16:33imprisonment despite legislative
16:37approval of his claim. Ray Hinton
16:41who spent 28 years on Alabama's death
16:46row. I I'm seeing 28 years here and then
16:50in the video I said 30 years. So between
16:5428 and 30 years for crimes he did not
16:58commit. He filed a claim seeking nearly
17:00$1.5 million in compensation for his
17:04wrongful incarceration, which I don't
17:06think that is enough money. one uh he
17:09spent 28 to 30 uh years in incarcerated
17:13for a crime he did not commit. No, 1.5
17:16million is not enough. His conviction
17:19was overturned by the US Supreme Court
17:22in 2014 due to ineffective counsel
17:26and all charges were subsequently
17:29dropped. Hinton's application for
17:31compensation was unanimously approved by
17:34the state committee on compensation for
17:37wrongful incarceration
17:41and state senator Paul Busman introduced
17:44a bill to appropriate the funds. Despite
17:48this approval, the Alabama legislature
17:52never debated or passed the bill,
17:56leaving Hinton without any financial
17:59redress. State officials including the
18:02financial department in Anony's s uh
18:05general office oh I'm sorry and attorney
18:09attorney general's office argued that
18:12Hidden was not technically proven
18:15innocent but rather released due to
18:18ineffective legal representation
18:21claiming he was therefore ineligible
18:25ineligible for compensation
18:28legislative delays and political
18:31distractions including controversy
18:33surrounding the governor at the time uh
18:36contributed to the bill stalling. Hinton
18:40was publicly criticized or has publicly
18:44criticized the state for his inaction
18:48describing the situation as a
18:50continuation of injustice after his
18:53release. He remains without compensation
18:55for the decadas he spent on death row
18:57despite being one of the longest serving
19:00exonerated death row inmates in Alabama
19:05history.
19:07In summary, although Hinton's claim was
19:10approved and a bill was introduced to
19:15provide a 1.5 million in compensation,
19:19he has yet to receive any settlement due
19:22to legislative inaction and disputes
19:25over the interpretation of his
19:28exoneration.
19:29Now, we are living in 2026.
19:33they should have
19:37made some kind of adjustments and that
19:40bill should have definitely has passed
19:43should have been passed by the state of
19:47Alabama. But um one thing I will take
19:50away from the story, the story is very
19:53heartfelt.
19:55And um
19:58one thing that well a couple things
20:00stood out to me,
20:03but one thing was that Clu Klux Clan guy
20:06Henry
20:07um he was taught to hate his whole life.
20:12So he didn't know anything else but
20:16hate. When you teach a child, especially
20:18at a young age, those kinds of emotions
20:23is poison and it will poison them from
20:26the inside out. And so when you see
20:29children or you hear of children um like
20:33Henry, little white boys and girls in
20:36school acting out in a racist manner,
20:40think about what they've been taught at
20:43home. So, I'm not saying it's not their
20:46fault, and I'm not saying that we
20:49shouldn't give them any kind of litacy,
20:51but we should have an understanding of
20:54what kind of home um uh u home they was
21:00raised in and um under the conditions
21:04that they were raised up. Now, I'm not
21:06saying that we should um accept their
21:10behavior and just ignore it like, "Oh,
21:13they're just children." No, because
21:15those those are some hateful things that
21:18kids be saying to one another. But we
21:21should, especially the black kids. I'm
21:24just saying
21:26that we should equip our black kids how
21:29to
21:31um deal with that type of hate without
21:35backing down. Because even you got that
21:39hate coming at you, you still got to um
21:42stand 10 toes down in a front and in the
21:45face of that. So, I'm not I'm I know I'm
21:49not um saying the words I want to say
21:53and I'm trying to bridle my words
21:56without just coming out and saying, you
21:59know, I'm I'm trying I'm learning how to
22:02talk. Uh you know, um um mindful of what
22:07come out of my mouth cuz half the time
22:09things just come out and I don't even be
22:11thinking about what I'm saying. If you
22:13get hurt by it, so what? Who cares? Um
22:16um yeah, but back to Henry.
22:20Um I pray that he do uh get some kind of
22:24compensation for his wrongful
22:26imprisonment. Um definitely more than
22:30$1.5 million. Now we have a GoFundMe and
22:35it would be nice. He probably won't
22:37because I don't think it's his character
22:39to do so. But I believe if he if someone
22:43would lead him to set it up or someone
22:46set it up for him, I believe he will sub
22:49supersede um what he's asking for in
22:53this settlement because those pennies he
22:56spent 28 to 30 years in incarcerated for
22:59something he did not even do. So before
23:02I go in in this video, there's one more
23:06thing that I want to show you.
23:10um where Anthony Ray Hinton, he shares
23:13his remarkable
23:15life story and this was on February the
23:185th of 2026 in Belmont Hill. Uh they
23:23proudly welcomed Anthony Ray Hinton to
23:26campus for a deeply moving and
23:28inspirational school meeting. Mr. Hidden
23:31shared his story of surviving for 30
23:34years on Alabama's death row following a
23:38wrongful conviction in a decad's long
23:41journey of his exoneration and freedom.
23:44Now since his freedom in 2015, Mr.
23:48Hinton has traveled the world sharing
23:50his story and discussing the changes
23:53that need to be made to prevent similar
23:56injustices
23:58from happening to others. In 2018, Mr.
24:01Hidden Publix The Sun Does Shine: How I
24:04Found Life and Freedom on Death Row,
24:07which was selected for Oprah's book club
24:11and is a New York Times besteller.
24:16Um, it in the lead up to Mr. Hinton's
24:19visit English classes of all grade
24:22levels read excerpts of the memoir just
24:27mercy by Brian Stevenson the lawyer who
24:31helped went back Mr. Hinton's freedom
24:34thanks to the students enthusiasm for
24:37the material many classes went on to
24:40read the entire book so following the
24:43presentation Mr. and he stayed behind it
24:45and um he answered more intimate uh
24:49conversation with the students. And then
24:52here below we have some pictures that um
24:56a photograph that was taken of the
24:59occasion.
25:03And there we have it right there. All
25:05right. So that covers what I um want to
25:10present to you in this video. So, thank
25:14you for watching. Make sure you
25:16subscribe and hit the bell notification
25:18so that you can be notified each and
25:20every time I drop a new video. Okay, I
25:24will see you in my next video. Y'all be
25:26blessed.
25:34>> [music]

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