70‑year-old Oklahoma man set free after record-breaking 48 years of wrongful imprisonment
After spending more than 48 years in prison, this 70-year-old man, wrongfully accused of murder, has been officially vindicated of all charges by an Oklahoma court.
"This court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the offense for which Mr. Simmons was convicted, sentenced and imprisoned... was not committed by Mr. Simmons," said Amy Palumbo, the court spokeswoman, in a media statement.
According to the National Registry of Exonerations, Glynn Simmons has spent the longest time wrongly imprisoned in U.S. history. His imprisonment lasted 48 years, one month, and 18 days, from his sentencing in 1975, when he was just 22 years of age. In July this year, the court suspended his sentence, releasing him from prison to revisit the case. It was found that the prosecution nearly half a century ago had hidden evidence from Simmons' defense attorneys. The new proceeding concluded on Tuesday with the exoneration of the 70-year-old man.
"This is the day we've been waiting on for a long, long time. It finally came," the newly exonerated man told reporters outside the court.
Almost half a century in pursuit of justice
Simmons, along with another suspect, Don Roberts, were initially sentenced to death for the murder of a liquor store employee during a robbery. The sentence was later changed to life imprisonment by the U.S. Supreme Court. The prosecution was based on the testimony of a 17-year-old, who survived the incident despite being shot in the head. However, the witness identified several men at the time, not just Simmons, who consistently asserted that he was at home in Louisiana during the crime.
The attorney of the exonerated man announced that they will pursue a compensation of $175,000.
