A 71-year-old African-American man will receive $7.15 million in compensation for nearly half a century behind bars for a murder he did not commit in the US state of Oklahoma (center).
When he was acquitted last year, Glenn Simmons became the longest wrongfully imprisoned inmate in U.S. history, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.
After his release, after 48 years , one month and 18 days in jail, filed a lawsuit against the city of Edmond, Oklahoma, and a police inspector who played a role in his arrest.
On Monday, the Edmond City Council approved an out-of-court settlement to avoid the case turning into a legal battle, public documents show.
The settlement ends “in part” the lawsuit “against the city and the police” who used falsified evidence to accuse Mr. Simmons “of murder,” his lawyers explained in a statement released yesterday Tuesday.
“Mr. Simmons spent a tragically long time in prison for a crime he did not commit,” insisted Elizabeth Wang, a member of his legal team. “Although he will never get that time back, the settlement with the city of Edmond will allow him to move forward while he continues to assert his rights” fighting Oklahoma City and the inspector, he added.
When When contacted by AFP, Edmond's municipality declined to comment.
Glenn Simmons and another man, Don Roberts, were sentenced to death in 1975 for killing a 30-year-old winery employee during a robbery in Edmond. Their sentences were later commuted to life imprisonment.
The conviction of the two men was based on the testimony of the only witness, a customer of the store, a teenage girl who was shot in the head during the robbery, but survived.
The teenager identified them among other suspects presented to her by the police, but a subsequent investigation called into question the reliability of the identification.
During their trial, the defendants explained — to no avail — that they were not even in Oklahoma on the day of the murder.
Mr. Simmons' conviction was overturned in July 2023 by the American judiciary. He was formally acquitted in December.
The other man convicted in the case, Don Roberts, was released in 2008, according to the national registry of acquittals.
source: protothema. gr
