Death row inmate cleared after nearly 50 years to receive over $7 million from Oklahoma City

Edmond, Okla. — An Oklahoma metropolis has agreed to pay greater than $7 million to a former dying row inmate who was exonerated after practically 50 years in jail, making him the longest-serving inmate to be declared harmless of against the law.

The Edmond Metropolis Council voted with out touch upon Monday to settle the lawsuit filed by Glynn Ray Simmons, 71, towards the Oklahoma Metropolis suburb and a former police detective for $7.15 million.

“Mr. Simmons spent a tragic period of time incarcerated for against the law he didn’t commit,” his lawyer, Elizabeth Wang, mentioned in an announcement. “Though he won’t ever get that point again, this settlement with Edmond will permit him to maneuver ahead together with his life.”

He was 22 years outdated when he was convicted, CBS Oklahoma Metropolis affiliate KWTV factors out.

The lawsuit makes related claims towards Oklahoma Metropolis and a retired Oklahoma Metropolis detective who additionally investigated the theft and capturing that wound up placing Simmons behind bars. These claims aren’t affected by the settlement and are nonetheless pending.

Wang famous in her assertion that, “We’re very a lot trying ahead to holding them accountable at trial in March,” in line with KWTV.

A spokesperson for Oklahoma Metropolis mentioned Wednesday that the town does not touch upon pending litigation.

The lawsuit alleges police falsified a report by stating {that a} witness who was wounded within the capturing recognized Simmons and co-defendant Don Roberts as the 2 who robbed a retailer and shot a clerk. The lawsuit additionally alleges police withheld proof that the witness recognized two different folks as suspects.

Simmons was launched from jail in July 2023 after a decide vacated his conviction and sentence and ordered a brand new trial. District Legal professional Vickie Behenna introduced in September that she would not retry the case as a result of there isn’t a longer bodily proof towards Simmons.

In December, a decide exonerated Simmons, saying there was “clear and convincing proof” that he did not commit the crime and Simmons has obtained $175,000 from the state of Oklahoma for wrongful conviction.

Simmons served 48 years, one month and 18 days, making him the longest imprisoned U.S. inmate to be exonerated, in line with knowledge stored by The Nationwide Registry of Exonerations. Simmons, who has maintained that he was in Louisiana on the time of the crime, and Roberts have been each convicted of the homicide of the liquor retailer clerk, Carolyn Sue Rogers, and sentenced to dying. Their sentences have been decreased to life in jail in 1977 after U.S. Supreme Court docket rulings associated to capital punishment and Roberts was launched on parole in 2008.