After spending practically 50 years in jail, 71-year-old Glynn Simmons, a former demise row inmate from Oklahoma, has formally been exonerated by a choose.
The Oklahoma man was convicted of against the law he didn’t commit. He was launched in July when key proof was acknowledged to have been withheld from his protection by prosecutors. Simmons was formally declared harmless on Wednesday.
“This court docket finds by clear and convincing proof that the offense for which Mr. Simmons was convicted, sentenced and imprisoned… was not dedicated by Mr. Simmons,” Oklahoma County District Choose Amy Palumbo wrote in his ruling.
Simmons spent a complete of 48 years, one month, and 18 days in jail after being convicted in 1974 of the homicide of Carolyn Sue Rogers, in keeping with the New York Publish.
He’s the longest-imprisoned inmate to be cleared in U.S. historical past, as reported by the Nationwide Registry of Exonerations.
Following the choose’s ruling, Simmons celebrated outdoors the courthouse by elevating his arms in victory. In talking to reporters, he expressed a way of vindication, having endured a long time behind bars to in the end show his innocence.
“It’s a lesson in resilience and tenacity,” Simmons stated. “Don’t let no one inform you that it (exoneration) can’t occur, as a result of it actually can.”
Throughout his trial and incarceration, Simmons persistently asserted he was in Louisiana on the time of Carolyn Sue Rogers’ homicide in Edmond. In 1975, Simmons and co-defendant Don Roberts had been convicted and sentenced to demise. Subsequently, their demise sentences had been commuted to life in jail in 1977 in gentle of Supreme Court docket rulings on capital punishment.
Roberts was launched on parole in 2008, whereas Simmons remained incarcerated. In July, a brand new trial was ordered for Simmons after proof, together with a police report with potential eyewitness identifications of different suspects, was revealed to have been withheld.
District Legal professional Vicki Behenna introduced in September that Simmons, missing bodily proof linking him to the crime scene, wouldn’t face retrial. At the moment free, Simmons is counting on donations from a GoFundMe marketing campaign, in keeping with protection legal professional Joe Norwood.
Legal professional Norwood acknowledged that Simmons is eligible for as much as $175,000 in compensation for wrongful conviction and will think about submitting a federal lawsuit towards Oklahoma Metropolis and the authorities concerned in his arrest and conviction.
Nonetheless, the legal professional famous that the potential compensation is probably going years away.
“Getting him compensation, and getting compensation just isn’t for certain, is sooner or later and he has to maintain himself now,” Norwood stated.
