Have you read the story “God Sees the Truth but Waits” by Leo Tolstoy? It is fiction but still heartbreaking because you know it could actually happen to someone in real life. Then I came across a real life story similar to Aksionov’s fate in Tolstoy’s story - that of the story of Anthony Ray Hinton.
In 1985, at age 29, Hinton was convicted for two murders. He was an innocent man sentenced to death for crimes he did not commit.
When the murders happened, Hinton had been working in a locked warehouse 15 miles away. But as soon as he was arrested by the police, everything worked against his favor. He wasn’t given a good defense lawyer, the forensic examiner hired by his lawyer was not that credible (though he knew that the bullets in Hinton’s gun didn’t match those that were found in the two crimes, he only had one eye and so his credibility got attacked during the hearing especially after admitting that he had trouble operating a microscope), and the judge and both of the prosecutors were all white and Hinton was black.
It didn’t matter to the jury that there were no fingerprints or eyewitness testimony. The testimony of Hinton's boss, who testified that Hinton was at work at the time of the alleged crimes, was also disregarded by the jury. All lie detector tests which consistently showed Hinton was telling the truth were also disregarded. The prosecution's only evidence at the trial was a statement that ballistics tests showed 4 crime scene bullets matched Hinton's mother's gun (but it wasn’t the case as the gun was never fired in the last 25 years and the bullets didn’t match with the crimes based on the forensic examiner whose credibility was dislodged). Hinton still ended up being convicted for the two murders and he was sentenced to death.
In Ray Hinton’s book, The Sun Does Shine, he tells his life story - recounting his innermost thoughts, feelings and fears throughout the 30-year ordeal until he was proven innocent. It’s amazing how he was able to keep his sanity for 30 years but of course, it wasn’t easy at all. For the first 3 years in prison, he didn’t talk. It was as if he lost his vocal chords, he recalled. He couldn’t believe what had happened to him. He also didn’t want to make any friends in prison. It was as if life was sucked out of him.
Then one evening, he heard the person next to his cell wailing. Everyone in their cells could hear the wailing but no one dared to speak. For the first time in 3 years, Hinton said he finally spoke. He asked “Is something wrong over there?". At first, the other person didn't answer. Then he eventually answered and shared that his mom had passed away. Hinton said he was very sorry (he was very close to his mom too). Then later on, Hinton started telling anecdotes about his mom and the other person started sharing his own too, and they started laughing a little. The other prisoners laughed with them too. From that day on, Hinton realized that all of them in death row were humans after all and it was human nature to reach out. That’s when he started to make friends.
Hinton even made friends with a white man named Henry Hays who was KKK and was convicted for killing a black man. Henry’s father was a Klan leader who got upset that a black man had not been convicted of killing a white man, and so he ordered his son, Henry, and other Klansmen to kill the first black man they came across. Henry was convicted for that.
Hinton’s empathy for Henry is very admirable considering Henry was KKK and was raised to hate black people. He shared:
Henry had been taught to hate all his life. He didn't know any different. Me and some of the other blacks there didn't judge him, since everyone on death row was accused of killing somebody. I was there for something I didn't do. I didn't know whether he'd done it or not.
In an interview with Oprah, when Oprah asked Hinton if he ever asked Henry if he did it or not, Hinton simply replied - That was between him and his God.
Hinton further shared that -
Death row was the only place where I never witnessed racism. We all went to bed with a death sentence on our heads and woke up that way. We had to become each other's support system.
He shares that on the night of one’s execution, you would be asked of two things: What do you want for your last meal, and do you have anything you want to say?
When Henry was eventually executed, Hinton was told that Henry’s last words were -
All my life, everyone told me to hate. The people I was taught to hate taught me to love. As I leave this world, I leave knowing what love feels like.
That made me cry.😢 I don’t know the details of Henry’s life but just with those few words, I got a glimpse of his entire lifetime.
Other than being friends with one another, the death row inmates also became friends with the wardens who took care of their daily needs. But what’s difficult to reconcile, Hinton said, was that every Thursday, which was the execution day, the wardens are the very same people who would end your life - they are your death squad. In as much as it was difficult for the one being executed, I am sure that it was equally difficult too for the executioners.
But a lot of his death row inmates also committed suicide before their execution dates by cutting their wrists or hanging themselves in their cells. So how did Hinton able to hold it up for 30 years? It was because of the love, devotion and support of his mom and his bestfriend, Lester Bailey. They were the top 2 people who kept him going. There are so many tear-jerking and heartbreaking moments between him and his mom in the book. Unfortunately, his mom passed away in 2002. Hinton was so devastated that he even thought of killing himself but he quickly recovered as soon as he realized that knowing his mom, she would not want him to quit the fight. As for his bestfriend, Lester, he never failed to see Hinton every single month during visiting day in all of 30 years. How is that for a bestfriend?!
As to what kept Hinton’s sanity for 30 years was his imagination. He would imagine a lot of things - that he’s right at home with his mom, that he’s married to xx celebrity, that he was traveling and visiting places, that he was playing in the World Cup... Though confined in his tiny cell, he could go to places and be whatever he wants to be with the use of his imagination. He wanted the other guys to have their minds preoccupied too instead of just thinking about their pending execution and so one day, he proposed to the wardens to have a book club inside the prison. He shared:
We were all slowly dying from our own fear—our minds killing us quicker than the State of Alabama ever could. Men would do all kinds of crazy things rather than spend another night with their own thoughts. Bring in the books, I thought. Let every man on the row have a week away, inside the world of a book. I knew if the mind could open, the heart would follow.
To cut the story short, how did Hinton get a chance at proving his innocence? Thanks to good people like lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, from Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). EJI introduced evidence from three forensics experts, including one from FBI, showing that the bullets from the crime scenes did not match Hinton's mother's gun. But the state court of Alabama refused to overturn his convictions or grant a new trial. Stevenson then elevated the case to the US Supreme Court in 2014. Hinton’s conviction was overturned and the state dropped all charges against him as prosecutors admitted that they could not match four bullets found at the crime scene with Hinton's gun which was the only evidence offered in the original murder trial. But this wasn’t an easy journey. All of these took 16 years of hard work from Stevenson and the EJI.
Hinton finally got released on a Good Friday in 2015 and it was his bestfriend, Lester, who picked him up. What was the first thing Hinton wanted to do as a free man? To visit the tomb of his mom. 😢
For some comic relief, there were some funny anecdotes on the day Hinton got released. One was as his bestrfriend was driving the car, a voice suddenly said - Turn right. Hinton jumped out of surprise and asked Lester where was he hiding the white girl talking inside his car. Lester had to explain GPS technology (which didn’t exist 30 years ago). Lester even had to pull over the car so they could recover from laughter. Then the other funny incident was when they had buffet lunch in a restaurant before heading home and Hinton saw Lester hand over a plastic card to the staff but didn’t give any cash. He realized that he didn’t have any cash to pay for his food too. He was so scared that he might be brought back to jail again on his first day of freedom for not being able to pay for his food. Then Lester explained the concept of credit card and both had a good laugh again. The world has changed a lot in 30 years, he said.
Another moment in Hinton’s life which moved me was when he recounted the first time rainwater touched his skin. He cried. He has never felt rainwater for 30 years. 😢 He also had to re-learn how to use a fork since he hasn’t used one in 30 years as they were only allowed to use plastic spoons in the penitentiary. And here we are taking for granted all the things we see, feel, hear, taste and touch when there are people out there who don’t get to enjoy any of these or are confined in a 6 x 8 ft room, 24 x 7.😢
When Oprah in an interview asked him - Do you spend a lot of time thinking about what you lost? Hinton answered -
Sometimes, especially when I think about the years I lost with my mother. I wish I could have been there to give her some cold water when she was sick, or make her some soup and feed it to her, like she would've done for me. I didn't get to say goodbye.
Here was a man who lost 30 years of his active life, the most prime of his years. He was arrested at age 29 and by the time he got out of prison, he was 59. Note that he didn’t say anything about opportunity losses or what he might have become, but only the lost years with his mom.
I remember another story of a prisoner I read last year who escaped from prison to be with his sick parent. After some time, he got caught and so more years got added to his sentence. Much later on, his parent’s condition further worsened so he escaped again but more years got added to his sentence when he got caught again. All in all, his sentence got doubled (forgot the exact number of years but I think it was about a total of 20 years) but when he got out of prison and got asked if he ever regretted escaping twice which resulted to spending double time in prison, he said no because the extra years in prison were worth it as he was able to be with his parents when they needed him the most, he explained. 😢
Anyway, so much for all these heart-wreching stories.
Hinton is the 152nd person exonerated from death row since 1973, the second in 2015, and the sixth in Alabama. This just goes to show that there are a number of innocent people who are convicted for crimes they did not commit. I just hope that like Hinton, they would also have the will to survive, have supportive family members and a Lester in their life, get access to a great and kind lawyer like Stevenson and a non-profit organization like EJI, and that hopefully, someday, the sun would shine on them too. But in the meantime that the sun doesn’t shine yet wherever they are, I hope they find some kind of solace in the fact that no matter, God sees and knows the truth.
