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

Glynn Simmons, 70, was freed in July after a district court found that crucial evidence in his case was not turned over to his defence lawyers.

On Monday, a county district attorney said there was not enough evidence to warrant a new trial.

In an order on Tuesday, Judge Amy Palumbo declared Mr Simmons innocent.

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

"It's a lesson in resilience and tenacity," Mr Simmons told reporters after the decision, according to the Associated Press. "Don't let nobody tell you that it can't happen, because it really can."

 

• Convicted man freed after witness found to be blind

 

Mr Simmons served 48 years, one month and 18 days in prison for the 1974 murder of Carolyn Sue Rogers during a liquor store robbery in an Oklahoma City suburb.

He was 22 years old when he and a co-defendant, Don Roberts, were convicted and sentenced to death in 1975.

The punishments were later reduced to life in prison because of US Supreme Court rulings on the death penalty.

Mr Simmons had maintained his innocence, saying he was in his home state of Louisiana at the time of the murder.

Mr Simmons smiled as the court declared his innocence on Tuesday. Dressed in a grey hooded sweater and fedora, a soft-spoken Mr Simmons later told reporters he had been waiting for this moment for a "long, long time".

"What's been done can't be undone, but there can be accountability," he said.

 

Asked to describe his emotional state, his lawyer Joseph Norwood told BBC News: "Obviously elation."

"The thought of being confined in prison for 50 years for something you had nothing to do with has to just be one of the worst things for a person's mental state," Mr Norwood said in an interview on Thursday.

But Mr Simmons was diagnosed with stage four cancer as he was being released, says the attorney.

"So it was a mix of elation, gaining his freedom, gaining his name back, clearing his name," said Mr Norwood, adding that Mr Simmons was now responding well to chemotherapy and was "on the mend".

"So it's been a heck of a ride."

Mr Simmons is currently battling liver cancer, according to his GoFundMe, which has raised almost $200,000 (£157,000) to help support his living costs and medical treatment.

 

A district court vacated his sentence in July after finding that prosecutors had not turned over all evidence to defence lawyers, including that a witness had identified other suspects.

 

FULL STORY

 

I recently saw a Netflix documentary about Ron Williamson, sentenced to death (also in Oklahoma) and came within five days of being executed, before eventually exonerated by DNA after 11 years on death row.  I thought it shocking he was given the death penalty when the case against him was so weak.  Good argument to abolish capital punishment.
 

https://innocenceproject.org/cases/ron-williamson/

Where are all the death penalty advocates?  Hmmm.

Holey cow enjoy your freedom poor guy had his life stolen 

A bit late in the day to exonerate this poor guy. The USA court system is a corrupt shambles.

Hard to believe he is black and screwed over by the system. Probably too late to prosecute police or prosecution who were willing to murder this man

Maybe there will be some movie right in it for him, to set him up.

So they released him so the courts don't have to pay for his cancer treatments.  

3 minutes ago, BTB1977 said:

So they released him so the courts don't have to pay for his cancer treatments.  

 

Exactly.

18 minutes ago, BTB1977 said:

So they released him so the courts don't have to pay for his cancer treatments.  

Exactly

 

Case recently in UK where an innocent guy was released after many years in jail (can't recall the details just now) and they are going to charge him for room and board for all the years in jail. 

 

28 minutes ago, Daffy D said:

Exactly

 

Case recently in UK where an innocent guy was released after many years in jail (can't recall the details just now) and they are going to charge him for room and board for all the years in jail. 

 

Link please 

47 minutes ago, Daffy D said:

Exactly

 

Case recently in UK where an innocent guy was released after many years in jail (can't recall the details just now) and they are going to charge him for room and board for all the years in jail. 

 

Think you find the rules have been changed.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-66417103

10 hours ago, stevenl said:

Link please 

There used to be a law that living costs were deducted from compensation. 

 

As the post above shows, it's now been scrapped.

Edited December 24, 20232 yr by youreavinalaff

6 hours ago, youreavinalaff said:

There used to be a law that living costs were deducted from compensation. 

 

As the post above shows, it's now been scrapped.

Yes, so the fact claimed in the post I responded to was not true. And the poster making the claim stayed quiet.

10 hours ago, stevenl said:

Yes, so the fact claimed in the post I responded to was not true. And the poster making the claim stayed quiet.

More likely, the poster had not seen the reports about the updated law. Therefore, was not aware that what hecposted was outdated.

 

Not everyone can be perfect.

56 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

More likely, the poster had not seen the reports about the updated law. Therefore, was not aware that what hecposted was outdated.

 

Not everyone can be perfect.

Doesn't matter, still not true.

 

But to put it positive, even with a deduction for living expenses the compensation would have been higher than what was received here. Ridiculously low amount, plus now medical treatment at own expensive. Even now the justice system is letting him down.

7 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Doesn't matter, still not true.

 

But to put it positive, even with a deduction for living expenses the compensation would have been higher than what was received here. Ridiculously low amount, plus now medical treatment at own expensive. Even now the justice system is letting him down.

There is no positive.

 

Both had a large part of their lives taken away from them. 

 

For that, there is no amount of compensation that would suffice.

 

 

Edited December 25, 20232 yr by youreavinalaff

It's a shame the prosecutors are probably long dead after a comfortable retirement.

16 hours ago, stevenl said:

Yes, so the fact claimed in the post I responded to was not true. And the poster making the claim stayed quiet.

It was not what is the actual case, it's about the basic principle of charging a wrongly convicted person for food and accommodation while in jail.

 

If the living expenses now are deducted from any compensation does not alter the callousness of such a law. 

 

Guilty prisoners are not expected to pay. Here's an idea, make them pay for their time in jail from any earnings after release.