Oklahoma Man Exonerated of Murder Conviction After Nearly 50 Years in Prison

An Oklahoma man who spent nearly 50 years in prison for a murder he did not commit was exonerated by a judge on Dec. 19.

Former death row inmate Glynn Simmons, 70, was originally released from prison in July after prosecutors found that important evidence in his case was not turned over to his defense lawyers, resulting in a judge ordering a new trial.

In an order on Tuesday, Oklahoma County District Judge Amy Palumbo updated the dismissal of his murder conviction and declared him innocent.

“This Court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the offense for which Mr. Simmons was convicted, sentenced, and imprisoned in the case at hand, including any lesser included offenses, was not committed by Mr. Simmons,” Judge Palumbo said in a ruling.

The former inmate had served 48 years, one month, and 18 days in prison after being convicted and sentenced to death for the 1975 murder of Carolyn Sue Rogers, a store clerk, and wounding of another woman, Belinda Brown, 18, at a liquor store during a robbery in Edmond, Oklahoma, according to the National Registry of Exonerations, which tracks exonerations of innocent criminal defendants.

Mr. Simmons, who was 22 at the time, was convicted alongside a co-defendant Don Roberts.

Prosecutors said that Ms. Brown—who was shot in the head during the robbery but survived—had identified Mr. Simmons out of a lineup but failed to tell the jury or defense team that she had also identified other people in the lineup, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Charges Dropped

Both Mr. Simmons and Mr. Roberts had their sentences reduced to life in prison in 1977 following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling related to capital punishment.

Mr. Roberts was released on parole in 2008.

Mr. Simmons has always maintained he did not commit the murder and told law enforcement officials that he was in Harvey, Louisiana, at the time of the murder.

His aunt, Dorothy Norris, also testified that she had seen him in Harvey, Louisiana, on the afternoon of the robbery and shooting, and that she also saw him the morning after in Harvey, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.

A district court vacated his sentence in July after determining that prosecutors had not handed over all evidence to his defense lawyers and had violated Mr. Simmons’ right to a fair trial. He was subsequently released on bond.

In September, Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenn dropped all of the charges against him.

‘A Lesson in Resilience and Tenacity’

Mr. Simmons is believed to be the longest-imprisoned U.S. inmate to be exonerated.

“It’s a lesson in resilience and tenacity,” Mr. Simmons told reporters following Tuesday’s decision. “Don’t let nobody tell you that it can’t happen, because it really can.”

A lawyer for Mr. Simmons, Joe Norwood, told USA Today that his client had “50 years stolen from him.”

“The prime of his work life when he could have been getting experiences, developing skills. That was taken from him, by no fault of his own, by other people,” he said.

Mr. Simmons may be eligible for up to $175,000 in compensation from the state for wrongful conviction in the wake of Tuesday’s ruling, which also opens up the possibility of a federal lawsuit against Oklahoma City and the law enforcement officers involved in his arrest and conviction.

According to a GoFundMe page set up by Mr. Simmons, he was placed on death row for the first two and a half years of his prison sentence. He is also undergoing chemotherapy for liver cancer, according to the page.

“I plan to use my remaining time to help others who are still stuck where I was. We need to fix this system so that what happened to me will never happen to anyone else, ever again!” the page states.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.