GEORGE STINNEY
- 14 YEAR-OLD BOY EXECUTED -
G'day folks,
On March 23, 1944, in South Carolina, two white girls, 11-year-old Betty
June Binnicker and 7-year-old Mary Emma Thames, were found dead. They
had failed to return home the night before.
Police arrested George Stinney, then 14, and his older brother Johnny,
for the murders. Johnny was released but George was held and charged for
the murders. His trial, by an all-white jury, lasted one day, and he
was found guilty.
He had not been allowed to see his family before the
trial and he was questioned alone without an attorney. During the trial
Stinney's defense offered no cross-examination, did not call witnesses
and offered virtually no defense. The jury deliberated for ten minutes
before he was found guilty and sentenced to death.
Stinney was executed shortly after, on June 16, 1944. He was so small
compared to adult prisoners that prison staff had difficulty securing
him to the electrodes. Only 83 days had passed between his arrest and
his death, and he became the youngest American to be sentenced to death
and executed.
In 2004 the case was re-opened, and in 2014 the conviction against
Stinney was vacated as it was determined by the court that he had not
received a fair trial.
Clancy's comment: Justice should not only be done, but also be seen to be done. Amen!
I'm ...
