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Like a movie story! The longest wrongful conviction in the US spent 48 years in prison for a murder he did not commit

2023-12-21 19:10:29Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Like a movie story! The longest wrongful conviction in the US spent 48 years in
Glynn Simmons

An Oklahoma judge has acquitted a man who spent 48 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, the longest known wrongful conviction in the US.

Glynn Simmons, 70, was acquitted in July after a district court found that crucial evidence in his case was not handed over to his defense lawyers.

On Monday, a district attorney said there was not enough evidence to warrant a new trial. In an order Tuesday, Judge Amy Palumbo found Simmons not guilty.

"This court finds with clear and convincing evidence that the offense for which Mr. Simmons was indicted, convicted and imprisoned ... was not committed by Mr. Simmons,” Oklahoma District Judge Palumbo said in her ruling.

"It's a lesson in resilience and perseverance," Simmons told reporters after the decision, according to the Associated Press. "Don't let anyone tell you it can't happen, because it really can."

Simmons served 48 years, one month and 18 days in prison for killing Carolyn Sue Rogers in 1974 during a robbery at a liquor store in suburban Oklahoma City.

Simmons was 22 when he and a co-defendant, Don Roberts, were convicted and sentenced to death in 1975. The sentences were later reduced to life in prison because of US Supreme Court rulings on the death penalty.

Simmons had pleaded not guilty, saying he was in his home state of Louisiana at the time of the murder.

A district court vacated his conviction in July after finding that prosecutors had not turned over all the evidence to defense attorneys, including that a witness had identified other suspects.

Simmons and Roberts were convicted in part because of testimony from a teenage girl who had been shot in the back of the head. The teenager identified several other men during police lineups and later recanted some of her testimony, the National Registry of Exonerations said.

Roberts was released on parole in 2008. Wrongfully convicted people serving time in Oklahoma are eligible for up to $175,000 in compensation.

Simmons is currently battling liver cancer, according to his GoFundMe, which has raised thousands of dollars to help with his living expenses and chemotherapy.


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