Glynn Simmons has acceded to receive a $7 million settlement by Edmond, Oklahoma, for being wrongfully jailed for almost 50 years. He was imprisoned for a period of forty-eight years, one month, and eighteen days after being convicted of murder in 1974. Simmons underwent the longest wrongful sentence of any exoneree in the U.S., as per the National Registry of Exonerations.
In 1974, Simmons was 22 years old when he was convicted of murder in a liquor store robbery when he was 700 miles away in Harvey, Louisiana, celebrating holidays with family and friends. He was taken to the police station, where officers asked him to participate in a line-up for the assassination of the store clerk of a liquor shop, which was yet to be solved. Simmons was one of several people arrested at a party on bogus robbery charges
Simmons’s attorney claimed that he had spent a horrendous amount of time on the crime that he didn’t commit. Although getting back the time spent in prison is impossible, this settlement will allow him to advance while he continues to press his claims against the Oklahoma City defendants.
In 2021, before being freed, Glynn was diagnosed with liver cancer. He was on a treatment waitlist and was unable to receive chemotherapy before his release. His cancer metastasized during this time.
The recent release asserted that there was no physical evidence that connected him to the crime. The only evidence was outrageously falsified police line-ups and police manipulation of a victim who saw the crime before being severely hurt.
Simmons’ release happened because the evidence found by the district attorney’s office was withheld from his defense attorneys, leading to his being wrongfully jailed, constituting a Brady violation. The Oklahoma County District Court Judge amended the order in December 2023, dismissing the case against him without prejudice and declaring Simmons to be “actually innocent” later that year.