It took 70 years,
but a 14-year-old African American boy from Alcolu , South Carolina
George Stinney Jr
In a ruling issued
Wednesday by Circuit Judge Carmen Mullen, the murder conviction against George
Stinney was vacated over concerns that the young boy’s constitutional right to
a fair trial was violated to the point that his name should be cleared, WIS TV reported.
Stinney, who was so
small at the time of his execution by electric chair that he had to sit on a
phone book, is often cited as the youngest American to be put to death by the
state in the 20th century.
During his trial in
1944, Stinney’s white lawyer did not present witnesses or cross-examine
witnesses presented by the prosecution. In 2009, Stinney’s sister claimed in an
affidavit that her brother could not have killed the two young girls because he
was with her at the time their deaths occurred.
