Oklahoma city approves over $7 million settlement with man wrongfully imprisoned for 48 years

By Amy Simonson, CNN

(CNN) — The city of Edmond, Oklahoma, has agreed to a $7.15 million settlement with a man who served 48 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, his attorney announced.

Glynn Simmons, now 71, served 48 years, one month and 18 days following his murder conviction in a 1974 shooting. He was released on bond in July 2023 after a judge vacated a 1975 judgment and sentence at the request of the Oklahoma County district attorney. His case was eventually dismissed in December 2023.

Simmons served the longest wrongful incarceration of any exoneree in the US, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. The average length of wrongful incarceration is just over nine years, said the registry, which tracks exonerations going back to 1989.

Simmons was 22 when he and another man were convicted of murdering Carolyn Sue Rogers during a liquor store robbery, according to the district attorney’s office.

The prosecution’s case at trial depended on the testimony of an 18-year-old woman who was shot in the head during the robbery, the exonerations registry said.

“Mr. Simmons spent a tragic amount of time incarcerated for a crime he did not commit. Although he will never get that time back, this settlement with Edmond will allow him to move forward while also continuing to press his claims against the Oklahoma City defendants,” attorney Elizabeth Wang said in a news release sent to CNN.

“We are very much looking forward to holding them accountable at trial in March,” the release said.

CNN has reached out to Simmons for comment.

The settlement resolves Simmons’ claims against the City of Edmond and the estate of former Edmond detective Anthony David Garret.

Additional claims against Oklahoma City and retired Oklahoma City detective Claude Shobert remain pending, according to the release.

“The city has no comment at this time,” Edmond Marketing and Public Relations Manager Bill Begley said.

Oklahoma City spokesperson Valerie Littlejohn declined comment “as it is pending litigation.”

Simmons was convicted in a 1974 murder that happened while he was “700 miles away in Harvey, Louisiana, celebrating the holidays with family and friends, according to the attorney’s release.

“No physical evidence ever connected him to the crime,” the release said.

“The only ‘evidence’ against him was grossly falsified police line-ups and reports and police manipulation of a victim who briefly witnessed the crime before being horribly injured during it.”

Simmons’ release came after the district attorney’s office found evidence was withheld from his defense attorneys – a so-called Brady violation – the district attorney said in a news release at the time.

Oklahoma County District Court Judge Amy Palumbo then amended the order in December 2023, dismissing the case against him with prejudice.

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