Judge hears both sides in George Stinney case

ALCOLU, SC (WIS) - A 14-year-old boy executed by South Carolina nearly 70 years ago is finally getting another day in court.

In 1944, 14-year-old George Stinney, an African-American was sentenced to die for killing two young white girls. Police say he confessed, but that confession and the transcript of the trial have disappeared.

Tuesday's hearing is getting national attention, as attorneys for Stinney's family try to convince a judge that the case against the black Alcolu teenager represented a gross miscarriage of justice.

Stinney was accused, tried, and sent to South Carolina's electric chair all within less than three months.

Stinney allegedly gave an oral confession to the beating deaths of two white girls. His statement given without an attorney, the case against him assembled with no evidence and no eyewitnesses.

Stinney's trial attorney also offered no challenges to police and no appeal after a verdict from an all-white jury which took only 10 minutes.

Despite all that, Solicitor Chip Finney resisted efforts to re-open the case.

The hearing is expected to continue on Wednesday beginning at 10 a.m.