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Judge throws out 14-year-old George Stinney’s murder conviction from 1944

by Nikki Gaskins Campbell
In 1944, 14-year-old George Stinney was sent to the electric chair, becoming the youngest person ever given the death penalty.
In 1944, 14-year-old George Stinney was sent to the electric chair, becoming the youngest person ever given the death penalty.

On Wednesday, a circuit court judge threw out the murder conviction of a 14-year-old South Carolina teen convicted of killing two girls 70 years ago in rural Clarendon County.

The niece of one of the victims lives here in Berkeley County.

Earlier this year, lawyers representing the family of the late George Stinney demanded a new trial and a petition for writ of Coram Nobis, citing that the original conviction was based on numerous errors that prevented the teen from having a fair trial.

The state, however, argued that the Stinney’s lawyers lacked the standing to make this petition, and that the Post Conviction Relief Act eliminated the use of other writs in South Carolina.

In her ruling issued Wednesday, Judge Carmen Mullen stated that she found “fundamental, Constitutional violations of due process” in the 1944 prosecution of the teen.

In April 1944, Stinney stood trial for the murders of Betty June Binnicker, 11, and Mary Emma Thams, 8. Just one month prior, a group of lumbermen found their bodies in a water-filled ditch.

Both had been killed by blows to the head.  Old reports indicated a railroad spike was used as the murder weapon.  Other reports indicate a large, blunt iron was used.  Nevertheless, Stinney, just a teen, was arrested for the crime after admitting to see the girls prior to their disappearance.

Stinney’s trial was brief, taking a jury only about ten minutes to come back with a guilty verdict. He became the youngest person to ever be sent to the electric chair.

Frankie Bailey Dyches of Goose Creek believes Stinney did, in fact, kill her aunt and her friend. She recently got together in Manning with people who were present during the murder investigation to talk about the case.
Frankie Bailey Dyches of Goose Creek believes Stinney did, in fact, kill her aunt and her friend. She recently got together in Manning with people who were present during the murder investigation to talk about the case.

Mullen made it clear that while she rejected the 1944 verdict, she was not making a judgment one way or another on the teen’s guilt or innocence.

“Without newly discovered biological evidence, seeking relief from a decades-old conviction is impossible in most cases,” the judge stated.

Frankie Bailey Dyches of Goose Creek is the niece of one of the victims, Betty June.  In a previous interview with The Berkeley Observer, she stated that Stinney had ample time to tell the truth if his confession to killing the girls was coerced.

“It’s always been one-sided.  They’re trying to make it about race, and it wasn’t,” she stressed. “It’s not that we believe hearsay that we grew up with all these years.  We’ve done our research.  We’ve talked to people that were actually there. The people that read these articles in the newspaper don’t know the whole truth.”

To read the judge’s ruling in its entirety, click here.

Prior Story:

Goose Creek woman, others hope George Stinney murder conviction sticks

 
Nikki Gaskins Campbell
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