Here’s a roundup of headlines on Norwood.Law client Glynn Simmons, who finally found freedom after 48 years in prison

/ Glynn Simmons, In the News
"I'm happy and I'm free. It's been a long, long struggle. We need to reimagine justice and how we do it. - Glynn Simmons

By G.W. Schulz

His enduring nightmare is finally over after nearly half a century. An Oklahoma judge announced Sept. 19, 2023, that Norwood.Law client Glynn Simmons would not be facing a new trial and his case was being dismissed. Oklahoma County District Judge Amy Palumbo had already vacated his conviction in July of 2023. She concluded at the time that a key police report was withheld from Simmons during his 1975 trial. That document raised critical questions about who a star witness in the case actually identified during suspect lineups.

Those lineups were part of the police investigation of a 1974 liquor-store robbery that took place in Edmond, Oklahoma, and resulted in Simmons and a co-defendant, Don Roberts, spending decades in prison. During the robbery, a clerk, Carolyn Sue Rogers, was murdered and a customer was shot in the head but survived. 

With no physical evidence available in the case, the survivor’s testimony held the entire case together. The customer, Belinda Brown, acknowledged at trial that she only saw the perpetrators for a few seconds. Prosecutors would later admit their case was weak. Simmons and Roberts were nonetheless sent to prison. Roberts was released on parole in 2008, but Simmons refused to confess to anything and remained in confinement.

 

The nonprofit National Registry of Exonerations led by the University of California Irvine said it will be entering Simmons into the organization’s database as a result of the conviction being vacated and case dismissed. That action would make Simmons the longest-serving exonerated man in recorded U.S. history. 

After 48 years in prison, the state of Oklahoma has left Simmons with virtually no money, little means to support himself, and an ongoing battle with liver cancer. A GoFundMe account has been created to help Simmons rebuild his life outside of prison walls. Below is a roundup of national, state, and local headlines about Simmons’s extraordinary story.