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The decision is made: How much will be compensated for the American who spent 48 years in prison without any guilt

2024-08-15 13:24:56Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Glynn Simmons

A 71-year-old African-American man will receive $7.15 million in damages for spending nearly half a century behind bars for a murder he did not commit in the US state of Oklahoma.

When he was acquitted last year, Glynn Simmons became the longest wrongfully incarcerated in U.S. history, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.

After being released after 48 years, one month and 18 days in prison, he filed a lawsuit against the city of Edmond, Oklahoma and a police inspector who played a role in his arrest.

On Monday, the Edmond City Council approved an out-of-court settlement to avoid the issue turning into a legal battle, public documents show.

The settlement "partially" ends the lawsuit "against the city and the police" that used falsified evidence to charge Simmons "with murder," his attorneys explained in a statement released Tuesday.

"Mr. Simmons spent a tragically long time in prison for a crime he did not commit,” insisted Elizabeth Wang, a member of his legal team. "While he will never get that time back, the settlement with the city of Edmond will allow him to move forward while he continues to defend his rights," she added.

The decision is made: How much will be compensated for the American who spent 48

When contacted by AFP, the city of Edmond declined to comment.

Glynn Simmons and another man, Don Roberts, were sentenced to death in 1975 for killing a 30-year-old convenience store clerk during a robbery in Edmond. Their sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.

The conviction of the two men was based on the testimony of the only witness, a customer of the store, a teenage girl who was wounded in the head by a bullet during the robbery, but survived.

The teenager identified them among other suspects presented by the police, but a subsequent investigation questioned the reliability of the identification.

During their trial, the defendants argued — to no avail — that they weren't even in Oklahoma on the day of the murder.

Simmons' conviction was overturned in July 2023 by the US judiciary. He was formally acquitted in December.

The other man convicted in the case, Don Roberts, was acquitted in 2008, according to the national registry of innocence.


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