A judge in South Carolina tossed out the murder conviction of a 14-year-old boy, 70 years after he was wrongly executed for beating two white girls to death.
According to NBC News, George Stinney, Jr. was exonerated by Judge Carmen Mullen this morning. Stinney, who was so small that he reportedly had to sit on a phone book in the electric chair, was put to death for the alleged 1944 beating of two girls in Alcou, S.C.:
Civil rights advocates have spent years trying to get the case reopened, arguing that Stinney's confession was coerced. At the time of his arrest, Stinney weighed just 95 pounds. Officials said Stinney had admitted beating the girls, 11 and 8 years old, with a railroad spike.
In a 2009 affidavit, Stinney's sister said she had been with him on the day of the murders and he could not have committed them.
NBC News adds that Stinney's trial lasted a mere three hours, and his conviction and execution took place less than three months after the girls were killed. All 12 jurors were white men, and they reached their decision in just 10 minutes.
"I can think of no greater injustice," Judge Mullen said of Stinney's execution.
[via NBC News and Associated Press]
