>> a stepchild of lynching, absolutely. >> reporter: anthony ray hinton could not afford an attorney. by the court. that detective proved prophetic. mr. hinton faced a white judge, a white prosecutor, and an all-white jury. he was convicted and sent to dead row. >> death row, first and foremost, is pure hell. somebody's hollering all night, all day. you smell the flesh of another human being that they just killed. my cell was 30 yards away from the execution chamber. i had to try and keep the smell of fresh-cut grass in my mind for as long as i could, because that's the last thing i smelled of the free world. my body went to death row, but my mind never did. >> in your quietest moments when it's just you, and you're thinking of him, what do you think? >> i think, what if i had fought a little harder? what if i had -- sat up in the courtroom with that litigation and said something to the judge? would he still be here? his mom has cancer, now you took their dad? >> the supreme court had an opportunity to strike down the death penalty in 1987 after it had been presented with really compe