George Stinney, Jr.: No Exoneration
From Dudley Sharp, independent researcher, death penalty expert, former opponent, 832-439-2113, CV at bottom
Preface
This is just the typical and normal reply to the anti-death penalty movements typical and normal lying about exonerations.
I compiled a number of sources confirming that, below, in a manner that anyone can fact check and vet.
It's a little sloppy, because of a deadline.
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As of 12/28/2025, I have found no updates since 2014.
1) "At Sumter County courthouse in January, 2014 Circuit Judge Carmen Mullen stressed that her job was not to establish the guilt or innocence of George Stinney, who "may well have committed this crime", but to determine whether or not he received a fair trial."
" . . . George's confession, and a handwritten note from a Clarendon County deputy stating he confessed and had led them to the murder weapon – a 15 in railroad spike – was proof enough of his guilt."
"George Stinney was executed at 14. Can his family now clear his name?", The Observer, 3/22/2014
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2) "However, back in 1995, WL Hamilton, George's seventh grade teacher, who is black, told the Item newspaper that he had a temper and had got into a fight with a girl at school, scratching her with a knife.",
The Guardian, March 22, 2014,
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3) " . . . the sole evidence against Stinney was the circumstantial fact the girls had spoken with Stinney and his sister shortly before their murder, and the testimony of three police officers, who testified at a trial which lasted barely two hours,[2] that Stinney had confessed to the murders. He was executed by electric chair."
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4) "According to the accounts of deputies, Stinney apparently had been successful in killing both at once, causing major blunt trauma to their heads, shattering the skulls of each into at least 4-5 pieces. The next day, Stinney was charged with first-degree murder."
NOTE FROM Dudley:
There is this odd claim, just below, which I have seen several times:
"It was later found that a beam with which the two girls had been killed weighed over twenty pounds. It was ruled that George wasn't able to lift the beam, let alone swing it hard enough to kill the two girls."
I am unaware who ruled on this and how they determined that he could not use a 20 lb spike or beam to a degree causing lethal trauma to the head. It seems reasonable that it is, easily, possible
Also, rather odd that a 15 inch railway spike weighs 20 lbs, but a 7 inch one weighs 1/2 lb. But maybe the descriptions of the murder weapon are not accurate or are, otherwise, in question.
I have seen three different versions of the murder weapon.
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5) "George Stinney was put in a small room where three aggressive investigators worked hard for his confession. Landmark Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona hadn't yet been decided, so Stinney was not entitled to an attorney during his questioning. It has been reported that the investigators offered Stinney ice cream if he would confess to the murders - a chilling testament to a 14-year old's inability to comprehend the gravity of situations like his. No notes were taken, and the investigators emerged after a few hours with a confession that may or may not have taken place."
Note from Dudley:
I have seen no proof that no notes were taken, only that no notes have been found, nor is there any evidence that Stinney was an idiot and did not understand the gravity of the situation, -- black kid, two dead white girls, 1944 South Carolina -- only confessing because he was offered ice cream, which all seems fabricated, just for the story. Does anyone believe that? http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/21/1178154/-The-Ghost-of-George-Stinney-Jr-How-The-Justice-System-Hasn-t-Evolved-As-Much-As-You-Think#
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6) George Stinney, Execution & Innocence
Dudley Sharp, 12/28/2025
Based upon the available evidence, there is no establishing George Stinney as an actual innocent convicted or executed --- unless the case, now, involves only uncorroborated and unconfirmable evidence presented by defense counsel, with no rebuttal and/or no presence by a challenging prosecutor, which has not transpired since 2014.
If Stinney's conviction is overturned, I suspect there will be no new trial, for obvious reasons - there is no defendant, no available evidence and the 3 police officers who testified as to his confession, are dead.
Since 2014, there are, alleged, alibi witnesses, who might come forward -- possibly one of Stinney's siblings and/or a non relative. Nothing has advanced since 2014, which should be telling. It should be noted that false alibi witnesses are common, particularly with family, and others pop up like daisies in the springtime, with controversial death penalty cases (1), such as with Troy Davis, as many others' (1).
It's a huge red flag when "Activist George Frierson " . . . hopes that clearing Stinney’s name would make people think twice in other death penalty cases like that of Troy Davis . . ." (1).
Not paying attention to facts and evidence or making up facts and evidence is not a good foundation for credibility, as we saw in the Troy Davis case (1), as with many others' (1).
There are other allegations, of a death bed confession, of an alternate suspect, in the murders of the two girls, Betty June Binnicker, age 11, and Mary Emma Thames, age 8.
Allegations are not truth, so we'll have to wait and see. Nothing since 2014.
It is beginning to sound quite familiar to other false claims, by anti death penalty folks (1). The Stinney family could have appealed to law enforcement in Pinewood or appealed to the Governor, directly or by phone, and, thereby, avoided the threats in Alcolu. I have seen no evidence that they attempted to do so in the 66 years after the murder, or, much more importantly, within the 81 days from Stinney's arrest to his execution.
Then, there is this:
There is a 70-83% "error" rate in the "exonerated" or "innocent" and released from death row cases, as alleged by death penalty opponents (1), and 100% false or unproven claims of innocents executed, in the many cases I have reviewed (1).
Does a confirmed campaign of false "innocence" and "exonerated" claims make George Stinney just another lie in that series? Of course not. But both skepticism and reason should be in play.
Few dispute that actual innocents have been executed, but proving it is another thing, entirely, much so today, as reviewed (1), much more so for a case 83 years old, whereby the main (known) witnesses, convicted party and evidence are no longer available.
To understate, Stinney was denied an adequate defense, none of which makes him actually innocent, any claim for which can never be confirmed or asserted, honestly.
1) The Death Row "Exonerated"/"Innocent" Frauds
71-83% Error Rate in Death Row "Innocent" Claims,
Well Known Since 1998
2) "New evidence could clear 14-year-old executed by South Carolina", David Edwards, THE RAW STORY, Monday, October 3, 2011 9:00 EST ===============
7) "According to a sheriff’s report, Stinney had confessed to the crime. It was a clear-cut case, as far as they were concerned. A handwritten statement by H.S. Newman, the law enforcement officer on the case, stated that Stinney had made a confession, and told the officer where he could find “a piece of iron” that the teen placed in the ditch near the scene of the crime. (1)"
"In a 2003 interview in The Herald, the arresting sheriff’s son, James Gable happened to be in the back seat with the teen as he was driven to the Columbia penitentiary. He claims that Stinney “was real talkative about it,” telling the sheriff’s son that he had not wanted to kill the girls.(1)'
"Unfortunately, case records, including the alleged confession are lost, and there are no trial transcripts. (1)" 1)
George Stinney: Was He Innocent?, By Dawn Levesque, Liberty Voice, January 22, 2014
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8) "The movants filed a Writ of Coram Nobis. This writ seeks merely to set aside the conviction, not exonerate the defendant.(2)" " Stinney was not exonerated. He was not found “innocent.” . (2)"
"No articles I’ve seen make mention of the fact that Stinney was heard threatening to kill girls before girls were, indeed, killed. One eyewitness also saw Stinney talking to the victims in the same place he made threats to kill other girls.
Watch the video of an eyewitness who heard Stinney’s threat to kill girls.
"This inconvenient fact provides strong circumstantial evidence of murderous intent. (2)" "Moreover, few of the articles mention that Stinney made three separate confessions to the murder. (2)"
"When you learn that the evidence of Stinney’s threats and his three confessions were introduced as evidence at trial, the conviction doesn’t seem quite so outlandish."
"The execution of a 14-year old does not conform to modern jurisprudential standards, but the law doesn’t operate to review convictions 50, 70, 100 years in the past using modern standards. (2)"
(2) George Stinney was not "exonerated" BY J. CHRISTIAN ADAMS, PJ Media, DEC 22, 2014
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10) In a message dated 11/27/2021 2:02:53 PM Central Standard Time, sharpjfa@aol.com writes:
10) To: LETTERS, The State
From: Dudley Sharp, 832-439-2113, Houston, Texas
RE: South Carolina can't undo wrongful executions, Emily Bohatch The State (Columbia, S.C.) (TNS), Nov 27, 2021
Bohatch stated:" In 2014, decades after Stinney's death, he was exonerated posthumously."
No he was not. Such would be impossible.
"In January, 2014 Circuit Judge Carmen Mullen stressed that her job was not to establish the guilt or innocence of George Stinney, who "may well have committed this crime", but to determine whether or not he received a fair trial."
The judge, rightly, found that the 14 years old, black Stinney was denied due process in 1944. The police stated that Stinney confessed to the murders of two sisters, aged 8 and 11, and led the police to the murder weapon, neither of which can be contradicted. Could be true. Could be false.
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Research, w/sources, w/fact checking/vetting & critical thinking, as required of everyone in a public policy debate and which rebut all anti-death penalty claims.
The media/academic norm is to use anti-death penalty material, refuse to fact check or vet it and avoid all pro-death penalty research and experts or to pretend that is the case. How will you know that is true? Read on:
a) The Death Penalty: Justice & Saving More Innocents
and
b) Students, Academics & Journalists: Death Penalty Research
(7 pro-death penalty experts are included)
and
c) 600+ pro death penalty quotes from murder victim's families &
3300+ from some of the greatest thinkers in history
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Victims' Voices
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Partial CV
