The Alabama Supreme Court on November 19, 2007, agreed to review Anthony Ray Hinton’s case. Mr. Hinton has been on Alabama’s death row for over 20 years for crimes he did not commit. Evidence demonstrating Mr. Hinton’s innocence was presented in court in 2002, but the Court of Criminal Appeals denied relief in a 3-2 decision in 2006.
The Supreme Court limited its review of the appeals court’s decision to consider whether Mr. Hinton is entitled to a new trial because his appointed trial lawyer was ineffective for presenting an incompetent expert on the most critical issue in the case: whether bullets from three crimes matched a gun belonging to Mr. Hinton’s mother.