Longest-Serving Wrongly Imprisoned U.S. Inmate Cleared of All Charges After 48 Years in Jail

Glynn Simmons, 71, was officially exonerated from a wrongful murder conviction on Tuesday

After nearly half a century, Glynn Simmons’ name has been cleared.

On Tuesday, Simmons was exonerated in a ruling by Oklahoma County District Judge Amy Palumbo, who declared that “the offense for which Mr. Simmons was convicted, sentenced and imprisoned... was not committed by Mr. Simmons,” according to the Associated Press.

Simmons, 71, was imprisoned in December 1974 for the murder of Carolyn Sue Rogers, who was shot in the head at a liquor store in Edmond, Oklahoma. He spent 48 years, one month and 18 days in prison, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.

“It's a lesson in resilience and tenacity,” Simmons said of the ruling during a news conference on Tuesday, per the AP. “Don't let nobody tell you that it [exoneration] can't happen, because it really can.”

Originally, he and Don Roberts, who was also convicted of Rogers’ murder, were sentenced to death row, but their sentence was amended to life in prison without parole in 1977, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. He was 22 when he was wrongly convicted, and always maintained his innocence.

In July, Judge Palumbo ruled that Simmons’ judgment and sentence would be “vacated” and there would be a retrial, as the Oklahoma County District Attorney, Vicki Zemp Behenna, had said Simmons was not given a fair trial because not all available materials were shared with his defense team during the original case.

“The role of a prosecutor is to ensure the defendant’s right to a fair trial,” Zemp said in a news release. “That includes providing all evidence the prosecution has to the defense before trial. Unfortunately, that did not happen in Mr. Simmons’ case, so the state confessed the Brady violation and the Judge vacated Mr. Simmons’ judgment and sentence. The next step is to evaluate the case for retrial.”

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Simmons created a GoFundMe page to raise money for himself because, as his lawyer told The New York Times, “He was deprived of work experience and being able to have a career where you could financially secure yourself and your family. All of that was taken from him.”

On the fundraising page, Simmons wrote, “My friend, I have been in prison for nearly 50 years! I've got nothing and I am grateful for the support of relatives as I wait for the state of Oklahoma to compensate me for wrongly sending me to death row, where I was for 2.5 years.”

He said he plans to use the funds “to live.”

“I want to get my own place to live, clothes, furniture, transportation, food, plus medical needs, because I am currently undergoing chemotherapy for liver cancer,” he shared.

“I'm 70 years old. 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!”

His lawyer, Joe Norwood, told the Times that Simmons could receive up to $175,000 in compensation for his time behind bars after Tuesday’s ruling.

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