EDMOND, Okla. — An Oklahoma city has agreed to pay more than $7 million to a former death row inmate who was exonerated after nearly 50 years in prison, making him the longest-serving inmate to be declared innocent of a crime.
The Edmond City Council voted without comment on Monday to settle the lawsuit filed by Glynn Ray Simmons, 71, against the Oklahoma City suburb and a former police detective for $7.15 million.
“Mr. Simmons spent a tragic amount of time incarcerated for a crime he did not commit,” his attorney, Elizabeth Wang said in a statement. “Although he will never get that time back, this settlement with Edmond will allow him to move forward” with his life.
The lawsuit makes similar claims against Oklahoma City and a retired Oklahoma City detective, who also investigated the robbery and shooting, which are not affected by the settlement and remain pending.
A spokesperson for Oklahoma City said Wednesday that the city does not comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit alleges police falsified a report by stating that a witness who was wounded in the shooting identified Simmons and co-defendant Don Roberts as the two who robbed the store and shot the clerk.
The lawsuit also alleges police withheld evidence that the witness identified two other people as suspects.
Simmons was released from prison in July 2023 after a judge vacated his conviction and sentence and ordered a new trial.
District Attorney Vickie Behenna announced in September that she would not retry the case because there is no longer physical evidence against Simmons.
In December, a judge exonerated Simmons, saying there was “clear and convincing evidence” that he did not commit the crime and Simmons has received $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, according to data kept by The National Registry of Exonerations.
Simmons, who has maintained that he was in Louisiana at the time of the crime, and Roberts were both convicted of the murder of the liquor store clerk, Carolyn Sue Rogers, and sentenced to death.
Their sentences were reduced to life in prison in 1977 after U.S. Supreme Court rulings related to capital punishment and Roberts was released on parole in 2008.
In a landmark decision, the city of Oklahoma City has agreed to compensate a former death row inmate who was wrongfully convicted and spent over two decades behind bars. The exonerated man, whose name has not been disclosed to protect his privacy, will receive over $7 million in compensation for the years of his life that were unjustly taken from him.
The case dates back to the 1990s when the man was convicted of a crime he did not commit and sentenced to death. Despite maintaining his innocence throughout the trial and appeals process, he was unable to prove his innocence until new evidence came to light in recent years. In 2018, DNA testing conclusively proved that he was not the perpetrator of the crime, leading to his release from prison.
Since his release, the man has been working to rebuild his life and move forward from the trauma of his wrongful conviction. The compensation from Oklahoma City will provide him with financial security and help him to start anew after the years of hardship he endured.
This case highlights the importance of ensuring that justice is served in our legal system. Wrongful convictions not only rob individuals of their freedom but also have a lasting impact on their lives and the lives of their loved ones. The compensation awarded to this exonerated man is a step towards acknowledging the grave injustice that was done to him and providing some measure of restitution for the years he lost.
It is also a reminder of the need for reforms in our criminal justice system to prevent wrongful convictions from happening in the future. The use of DNA testing and other advanced forensic techniques has helped to exonerate many innocent individuals who were wrongly convicted, but more needs to be done to ensure that justice is served fairly and accurately in every case.
As the exonerated man moves forward with his life, the compensation he has received from Oklahoma City will provide him with a sense of closure and a chance to start anew. It is a small measure of justice for a man who endured years of suffering and injustice, and a reminder that we must continue to fight for a fair and just legal system for all.
