Why did Hinton refer to his trial and conviction as a lynching?

Hinton referred to his trial and conviction as a lynching. It might have been a legal lynching, but he believed it was a lynching all the same. Even though he was nowhere near the site of one of the murders and although the gun they claimed was used had not been used in 25 years, he was still convicted. He believed his only crime was being born Black in Alabama.