Solicitor won’t appeal ruling in Stinney execution

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A prosecutor says he will not appeal a ruling by a judge overturning the conviction of a 14-year-old black boy electrocuted by South Carolina for the deaths of two white girls in 1944.

Solicitor Ernest Finney sent out a news release Wednesday saying he will let the order last week from Circuit Judge Carmen Mullen stand.

Mullen ruled South Carolina committed a great injustice when authorities arrested George Stinney, convicted him in a one-day trial and executed him all within three months

But she also carefully stated her ruling shouldn’t apply to other cases where blacks may have been mistreated by the white-run judicial system.

Finney says the judge gave the community a great Christmas gift in showing the justice system works, even if it takes a long time.