The city of Edmond, Oklahoma has agreed to pay $7.15 million to Glynn Simmons, who spent nearly 50 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Simmons filed a lawsuit against the late Edmond detective Sgt. Anthony “Tony” Garrett and the city of Edmond, which has now been settled. His claims against retired Oklahoma City detective Claude Shobert and the city of Oklahoma City are still pending. Simmons’ legal team alleges that evidence proving his innocence was hidden by Garrett and Shobert, and that reports of a witness identifying Simmons in a line-up were falsified. He was released in 2023 and later determined to be “actually innocent” by a judge. Simmons is considered the longest-served wrongfully convicted man in U.S. history according to the University of Michigan Law School’s National Registry of Exonerations. He is also set to receive compensation from the state of Oklahoma. Another man, Don Roberts, was also convicted of the same murder and sentenced to death row before having his sentence modified to life in prison. Roberts, who was paroled in 2008, is hoping for a determination of innocence in his case similar to Simmons. A jury trial in Simmons’ federal case is scheduled for March 2025. Simmons, while grateful for the settlement, recognizes that the timeline of his legal battle does not compare to the 48 years he spent wrongfully incarcerated, and gives credit to his faith for sustaining him through the ordeal.
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