Exonerated death row inmate who spent nearly 50 years in prison is awarded $7m compensation

Glynn Ray Simmons, who was exonerated after facing the death penalty and spending five decades in prison, will now receive $7.15 million in compensation.

Simmons, 71, will receive the award after filing a lawsuit against the city of Edmond, a suburb of Oklahoma City. The Edmond City Council voted on Monday to settle the lawsuit and issue the award, the Associated Press reports.

A jury convicted Simmons in 1975 of killing Carolyn Rogers, a liquor store clerk, during a robbery the year before. Simmons filed a lawsuit arguing police had falsified their report and the prosecution withheld evidence during his trial.

Simmons, meanwhile, maintained he was in Louisiana.

He was originally sentenced to death but later faced only life in prison after a 1977 Supreme Court ruling on capital punishment.

The 71-year-old walked free in July 2023 after a judge vacated his sentence and ordered a new trial.

Two months later, Oklahoma County District Attorney Vickie Behenna said she wasn’t retrying the case as there was no more physical evidence. At the end of the year, Simmons was exonerated and received $175,000 from the state, according the AP.

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 for the wrongful conviction.

Simmons, who spent more than 48 years in prison, served the longest sentence out of any exoneree on record, according to The National Registry of Exonerations.

“Mr. Simmons spent a tragic amount of time incarcerated for a crime he did not commit,” attorney Elizabeth Wang said in a statement to the AP. “Although he will never get that time back, this settlement with Edmond will allow him to move forward.”