SC - George Stinney: Was the youngest person ever executed innocent?

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pdxmama

pdxmama

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I came across this article today and I had never heard of this young boy or this case. http://www.thegrio.com/news/was-the-youngest-person-ever-executed-innocent.php

From the article linked:

"It's 1944, and police escort a 14-year-old boy into the death chamber. He stands just 5'1 and weighs a mere 95 pounds. He is so small in stature that dictionaries need to be stacked on the seat of the electric chair so that when he sits in it his head reaches the height of the electrodes. His chains are loose around his narrow ankles.

This young boy is about to be the youngest person ever to be executed in the history of the United States. Before there was a Troy Davis there was George Junius Stinney, Jr. and the state of South Carolina electrocuted him."

I'm wondering if any fellow WS'ers are familiar with the case? Were there ever any other suspects? Any theories?

Off to see if I can find any more info.
 
It is a terribly sad case. His mug shot photo really gets me, he looks so young, even younger than 14. There is quite a bit of info about him online, I found this on Wikipedia

"Jury selection began at 10 am, ending just after noon, and the trial commenced at 2:30 pm. Stinney's court appointed lawyer was 30-year-old Charles Plowden, who had political aspirations. Plowden did not cross-examine witnesses; his defense was reported to consist of the claim that Stinney was too young to be held responsible for the crimes. However the law in South Carolina at the time regarded anyone over the age of 14 as an adult. Closing arguments concluded at 4:30 pm, the jury retired just before 5 pm and deliberated for 10 minutes, returning a guilty verdict with no recommendation for mercy. Stinney was sentenced to death in the electric chair."

It only took 2 hours to try, convict and sentence a child to death.

RIP George
 
Interesting update.

Supporters of 14-year-old SC boy executed in 1944 for killing 2 girls want a new trial

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Supporters of a 14-year-old black boy executed in 1944 for killing two white girls are asking a South Carolina judge to take the unheard-of move of granting him a new trial in hopes he will be cleared of the charges.

George Stinney was convicted on a shaky confession in a segregated society that wanted revenge for the beating deaths of two girls, ages 11 and 7, according to the lawsuit filed last month on Stinney's behalf in Clarendon County.

Rest of the story at link:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/0...r-killing-2-girls-want-new/?intcmp=latestnews
 
How frightening for George. I can't imagine he got a fair trial all. He was probably guilty and would pay for it the moment they picked him up.

I am so glad people still care after so many years.
 
What a sad, horrible case. He was executed with not much of a trial, and no appeal because his family couldn't afford it, (there was no mandatory appeals for capital cases back then).

There was another 14 year old sentenced to death back in the late 1890s, and he was definitely guilty, but the governor of Massachussettes refused to sign the death warrant so he was sentenced to LWOP instead. Shame this governor didn't have the same moral courage.
 
This story made it in to the UK press (Scottish Daily Record newspaper) however nothing on their website. First I'd read about George Stinney... made my blood boil!
 
Horrible, sad case. More details at link below

"...Whether his conviction from that segregation-era court is tossed out is now up to Judge Cameron Mullen after a two-day hearing concluded Wednesday. She gave both sides at least 10 more days to consult witnesses and make more arguments....."

AND

"...Frankie Dyches, the niece of 11-year-old Betty Binnicker who was killed, also testified that they tried to put the case behind them for decades, but it kept coming up. They finally decided to go public when people began accusing them of paying off the real killer, Dyches said...."

"...He confessed. He was tried and found guilty by the laws of 1944, which were completely different now. It can't be compared. I think it needs to be left as it is," Dyches said...."




http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/01/2...ion-14-year-old-boy-executed/?intcmp=obinsite
 
I'm curious what people think about GS telling LE where to find the "murder weapon." I find this highly incriminating. Even if he didn't kill the girls, it appears he was a witness at the very least.
 
Belated justice.
***********************

Judge: Boy, 14, shouldn’t have been executed in SC

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — More than 70 years after South Carolina sent a 14-year-old black boy to the electric chair in the killings of two white girls in a segregated mill town, a judge threw out the conviction, saying the state committed a great injustice.

George Stinney was arrested, convicted of murder in a one-day trial and executed in 1944 — all in the span of about three months and without an appeal. The speed in which the state meted out justice against the youngest person executed in the United States in the 20th century was shocking and extremely unfair, Circuit Judge Carmen Mullen wrote in her ruling Wednesday.

“I can think of no greater injustice,” Mullen wrote.

More at the link here:
http://wtop.com/national/2014/12/judge-boy-14-shouldnt-have-been-executed-in-sc/
 
I've seen a lot of different "facts" about this murder weapon. Some said it was 14 inches long, some said 15 inches and some said they didn't even make 15 in long railroad pieces then. I don't know. Need to do more research for myself.


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Genetic genealogy. Find real killer. Now.
 
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