A city in Oklahoma agrees to pay more than $7 million to an exonerated former death row inmate

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

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.