George Stinney: the youngest criminal of the 20th century in the US is acquitted 70 years after the execution

June 16, 1944, the US judicial system has set a real record. On this day, the youngest criminal of the 20th century, George Stinnie, was executed. At the time of the execution, the teenager was 14 full years old. Really world-wide fame this business acquired in 2014, when 70 years later the executed minor was justified posthumously.

Spring nightmare in the town of Alkolu

Alkolu is a small town in South Carolina. In 1944, it was divided into two halves by railroad tracks. One part was inhabited by black townspeople, and the second - white. On March 23, two white girls - Mary Emma Thames (8 years old) and Betty June Binniker (11 years old) - went for a walk to the "black" quarter. Home girlfriends did not return, but there were witnesses who claimed to have seen the missing children talking to 14-year-old George Stinney near his house. The girls began to search the entire city immediately after the disappearance. The bodies were found in a ditch filled with dirty water, the cause of death in both cases was a craniocerebral trauma incompatible with life. On suspicion of committing this crime, George Stinnie was arrested.

Was there an investigation?

Under suspicion the teenager got, as the girls were last seen with him. Initially, the accusation was based on this argument. The news about the suspicion of an African American in the murder of two white children excited the quiet town. Threats from local residents began to act already against the whole family of Stinney. George's relatives literally fled the city, frightened of possible reprisals, and were forced to leave the boy to his fate. As a lawyer, the suspect received a tax commissioner who is going to enter the civil service. According to some sources, George Stinney confessed to a double murder, as well as in an attempt to rape the eldest of the girls. However, there are no official documents confirming these statements.

Jury trial

The trial lasted less than three hours, which is already strange for such a serious accusation. As witnesses, doctors, who conducted examinations of bodies, and the person who discovered them, were involved. Despite the fact that the defendant was black, there were not a single African-American among the jurors , they were all white. Witnesses on the part of the defense were also not involved, moreover, there is reason to believe that the lawyer was working negligently. The verdict was pronounced in just 10 minutes. The jury briefly conferred and came to the conclusion that George Steenney is guilty and deserves the death penalty.

Execution or a new murder of an innocent?

According to eyewitnesses, the verdict was listened to by a teenager, visibly nervous. The Steeney family did not have the necessary material resources to re-review the case. The verdict was carried out only three months after the pronouncement. At that time, South Carolina, like many other states of America, was the place where the death penalty was conducted through an electric chair. The fourteen-year-old was so short that he was not even "grown" until this terrible adaptation. The belts for fixing the hands were hopelessly large, so the limbs had to be simply tied. And in order to properly plant George, a seat was laid on the Bible, which he brought with him. The execution took place on June 16, 1944, and eventually this whole story began to be forgotten even in Alkola.

Posthumous justification

In 2013, the business of George Stinni interested some American historians. At the same time, the family of the executed teenager began to look for ways to rehabilitate the honor of his deceased relative. Catherine Steenney - George's sister - hired an entire team of lawyers to challenge the judgment handed down 70 years ago. Initially, the judges did not want to take up this case, as witnesses and eyewitnesses of that process have practically not survived. Documentation in the archive also remained a bit, and importantly, among the documents there is no recognition of George himself. And yet the case was really reviewed repeatedly. It was possible to prove that several serious violations were committed in the investigation and the trial. The defendant did not have a normal defense, and the evidence of his guilt does not look convincing enough. George Steenney's justification brought considerable relief to his family. Of course, no court can return to the life of a teenager, but even posthumous rehabilitation means a lot for the relatives of the convict and their descendants.

Fame and "freedom" after death

The second court even found a witness for the defense. This is a man who was sitting in one cell with Stinny sentenced to death. He told me that George himself several times tried to talk with him about the fact that he was convicted by mistake. The justified verdict of the court struck the entire world public. And indeed, not every day executed on an electric chair is recognized as innocent. Posthumously George Stinnie became the most real celebrity. About him filmed several documentaries, the most famous of which - "83 days" by Charles Burnett. And in 1988, the book "Skeletons of Carolina" was written, and its author, journalist and writer David Stout, sets out the details of the Steenney case in the format of a work of art. Curiously, the main character of the novel turns out to be innocent. This work was subsequently filmed with the preservation of the original name.