21 October 2009 :

Tom Joyner gets justice for electrocuted kin, 94 years later. Radio host gets pardon for his great-uncles who were wrongfully executed in 1915.
Thomas and Meeks Griffin had been executed for the killing of a Confederate veteran. Today, a board voted 7-0 to pardon both men, clearing their names in the 1913 killing of a veteran of the Confederate Army. It marks the 1st time in history that South Carolina has issued a posthumous pardon in a capital murder case.
"It's good for the community. It's good for the nation. Anytime that you can repair racism in this country is a step forward," Joyner said.
"I felt like I was a witness to a historical event. It was pretty exciting around here," said Peter O'Boyle, the chief spokesman for the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services. Dwayne Green, an African-American member of the pardon board, said he admired Joyner for seeking the pardon. "He's not only done his family a service, but also the people of South Carolina." "There's no statute of limitations on doing the right thing," Green said. "There's so much good that can come out of this public show of mercy." The unanimous vote, he said, was heartwarming and satisfying. "It's a great opportunity to show how much South Carolina has changed," he said. "While change comes slow, outcomes like this are a positive sign." The Griffin brothers were convicted of killing John Q. Lewis, a 73-year-old veteran of the Civil War. Lewis was slain in his home on April 24, 1913.
According to a recent research, Lewis, the former Confederate soldier, apparently had an intimate relationship with a married 22-year-old black woman, Anna Davis. Suspicion initially turned to her and her husband after the murder. "It is plausible to believe that the sheriff did not want to pursue Mr. and Mrs. Davis because if they were tried, it would have led to a scandalous discussion in open court," Finkelman wrote to the pardon board on October 2, 2008.
The investigation later turned to another man, Monk Stevenson, who would ultimately point police to the Griffin brothers and 2 other black men. Stevenson received a life sentence in exchange. "Stevenson later told a fellow inmate that he had implicated the Griffin brothers because he believed they were wealthy enough to pay for legal counsel, and as such would be acquitted," Finkelman said.
The Griffin brothers and the two other men, Nelson Brice and John Crosby, were convicted in a trial that lasted 4 days. They were electrocuted on September 29, 1915.