Oprah's Super Soul Super Soul Special: Anthony Ray Hinton, Part 1: Freedom After 30 Years on Death Row
Apr 15, 2026
Anthony Ray Hinton, author and former death row inmate who wrote The Sun Does Shine, recounts being arrested at 29, tried with flawed evidence, and surviving 30 years in solitary. He speaks about racial bias in policing, the failings of his defense, and how imagination, hope and compassion helped him endure. The conversation is gripping, emotional and centered on faith, forgiveness and justice.
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Thirty Years Wrongly Sentenced On Death Row
- Anthony Ray Hinton spent 30 years on death row convicted for murders with no eyewitnesses or evidence against him.
- He was tried by a white prosecutor, a white judge, and an all-white jury and later freed after the Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 2014.
Arrested On His Mother's Lawn And Told Conviction Was Certain
- Police arrested Hinton at his mother's house while he was mowing the lawn and insisted they'd convict him regardless of guilt.
- A detective told him five things would convict him including that he was black and would face an all-white jury.
Fake Ballistics Expert Sealed The Guilty Verdict
- Hinton's court-appointed lawyer hired an incompetent ballistics expert who could barely see, and the prosecution demolished him.
- The case relied solely on ballistics from a gun allegedly dusted off and cleaned by police from Hinton's mother's home.
