{"id":15078,"date":"2023-09-19T16:54:47","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T21:54:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norwoodlegal.com\/?p=15078"},"modified":"2023-09-19T18:19:05","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T23:19:05","slug":"case-abandoned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norwoodlegal.com\/case-abandoned\/","title":{"rendered":"After 48 years in prison, Norwood.Law client Glynn Simmons is set to become the longest-serving exonerated man in recorded U.S. history"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Glynn Ray Simmons courtesy of KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City.<\/em><\/p>

By G.W. Schulz<\/p>

An Oklahoma City judge has declared that Norwood.Law client Glynn Ray Simmons will not face a new murder trial after he spent 48 years in prison. Citing a lack of evidence and other factors, prosecutors chose to abandon their case and ask that it be dismissed, which Oklahoma County District Judge Amy Palumbo has now approved.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

As a result of the dismissal, the nonprofit <\/span>National Registry of Exonerations<\/span><\/a> led by the University of California Irvine says it will be entering Simmons into the organization\u2019s database. That action would make him the <\/span>longest-serving exonerated man<\/span><\/a> in recorded U.S. history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

A person is <\/span>eligible for the registry<\/span><\/a> when there\u2019s \u201ca dismissal of all charges related to the crime for which the person was originally convicted.\u201d Additionally, the dismissal must have occurred after new evidence of innocence became available that was not presented at the original trial.<\/span><\/p>

In the case of Simmons, his conviction was first vacated in July of 2023, and he was released on bond pending a new trial. Now the case has been dismissed, so the trial won\u2019t occur. One reason why is that a <\/span>key police report seeming to point to his innocence<\/span><\/a> was not made available to Simmons for his 1975 trial. The document was from the investigation of a 1974 liquor-store robbery in Edmond, Oklahoma, that landed Simmons and a co-defendant, Don Roberts, in prison for decades.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

During the robbery, a clerk, Carolyn Sue Rogers, was murdered and a customer was shot in the head but survived. The missing police report raised crucial questions about whether the star witness in the case \u2013 the surviving customer \u2013 had identified Simmons and Roberts during a police lineup or two other men. Simmons and his co-defendant were ultimately <\/span>convicted by an all-white jury following a trial<\/span><\/a> that lasted just two days.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m happy, and I\u2019m free. It\u2019s [been] a long, long struggle. I don\u2019t know, man. I\u2019m not usually at a loss for words. \u2026 We need to reimagine justice and how we do it,\u201d Simmons <\/span>told The Black Wall Street Times<\/span><\/a> about his freedom. He <\/span>added to The Oklahoman<\/span><\/a>: \u201cI was in prison for 48 years, 5 months and 13 days, and they let me out with nothing \u2013 I have absolutely nothing.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Simmons and his co-defendant were initially sentenced to die after being convicted. They narrowly <\/span>escaped execution when their sentences were amended<\/span><\/a> to life in prison following a 1976 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Simmons was 22 years old when he first went in and 70 when he came out, which means most of his life has been spent behind bars. Despite his ordeal, Simmons could still be denied compensation from the state of Oklahoma for his decades in confinement. That would mean only begrudgingly setting him free and leaving him with virtually no money, little means to support himself, and an ongoing battle with liver cancer. Supporters have <\/span>created a GoFundMe account<\/span><\/a> in an effort to raise money on his behalf.<\/span><\/p>

Keep reading below to learn more about Simmons\u2019s decades-long struggle for freedom and Norwood.Law\u2019s efforts to find justice in his case.<\/span><\/p>

Are you tied up in a legal conflict? Has the government accused you of a crime? If so, you\u2019ll need the best advocates available to tell your side of the story. And it\u2019s not just criminal law we practice. If you find yourself caught in a personal injury, business, or family dispute, Norwood.Law will bring the same commitment and skill to your corner that we did to the case of Glynn Simmons. When the time comes that you need us, contact Norwood.Law for a free consultation at 918-582-6464.<\/span><\/p>

Burden at trial<\/b><\/h2>

The office of elected Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna <\/span>admitted in April of 2023 that Simmons was denied a fair trial<\/span><\/a> when the police report describing what happened in a suspect lineup was not turned over to the defense. As a result, prosecutors said that \u201cjustice would be best served\u201d if the conviction was vacated. Then the district attorney went a step further and conceded in late summer that, among other things, there wasn\u2019t enough evidence to take Simmons back to court with a new jury.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

It\u2019s also possible prosecutors didn\u2019t want to face a modern jury that might have dramatically different expectations about the evidence and testimony. Even one of the original prosecutors in the case has admitted that the proof against Simmons and Roberts was \u201cthin.\u201d Yet despite these developments, Simmons has still not been \u201cexonerated\u201d <\/span>in the eyes of Oklahoma law for the purposes of compensation<\/span><\/a>. Norwood.Law would have to make a special petition to the court to have him formally declared innocent, which we can now do. We\u2019re also now able to make certain claims in federal court on Simmons\u2019s behalf under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It guarantees that people are not deprived of life, liberty, or property without a fair procedure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>