US Inmate Wrongfully Imprisoned for Record 48 Years Finally Exonerated

A man in Oklahoma, Glynn Simmons, has been exonerated by a judge after serving almost 50 years in prison for a 1974 murder. This marks the longest wrongful sentence to be served in the US. Simmons, now 71 years old, was released in July after a judge ordered a new trial. However, the county district attorney stated on Monday that there was insufficient evidence to proceed with a retrial. On Tuesday, Oklahoma County District Judge Amy Palumbo declared Simmons innocent, stating that he was wrongly convicted, sentenced, and imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. Simmons expressed his resilience and determination, emphasizing that people should not be discouraged because justice can prevail. He had served 48 years, one month, and 18 days in prison for the murder of Carolyn Sue Rogers during a liquor store robbery. This makes him the longest-serving inmate to be cleared of wrongful conviction according to the National Registry of Exonerations. Simmons and his co-defendant, Don Roberts, were initially sentenced to death in 1975 but had their punishments commuted to life in prison due to Supreme Court rulings on the death penalty. Simmons claimed he was in Louisiana at the time of the murder. The district court overturned his sentence in July after discovering that prosecutors had withheld crucial evidence from his defense lawyers, including the identification of other suspects by a witness. Testimony from a teenager who had been shot in the head and identified other men during police line-ups was used to convict both Simmons and Roberts. Roberts was released on parole in 2008. Wrongfully convicted individuals in Oklahoma can receive compensation of up to $175,000, and a GoFundMe campaign has been set up to support Simmons as he battles liver cancer.