Ex-death row inmate exonerated after 50 years to receive more than $7million from city in Oklahoma

The city of Edmond, Oklahoma, has agreed to a more than $7 million payout to former death row inmate Glynn Ray Simmons, 71, who was wrongfully imprisoned for nearly five decades, setting a record as the longest-serving wrongfully convicted inmate to be cleared .

The Edmond City Council silently approved the settlement on Monday, resolving the lawsuit brought by Simmons against the suburb and a former detective for a sum of $7.15 million. "Mr. Simmons spent a tragic amount of time incarcerated for a crime he did not commit," declared his lawyer, Elizabeth Wang.

"Although he will never get that time back, this settlement with Edmond will allow him to move forward," she added. Simmons' legal battle continues with similar allegations against Oklahoma City and a retired detective from there, related to the same robbery and shooting incident; these claims are still active and not impacted by the Edmond settlement.

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A representative for Oklahoma City maintained their stance of not commenting on ongoing legal matters as of Wednesday. Simmons' lawsuit accuses the police of fabricating a report which falsely claimed a wounded witness identified him and co-defendant Don Roberts as the perpetrators of the robbery and shooting, while also alleging that evidence pointing to other suspects was suppressed by the police.

After a judge overturned his conviction and ordered a retrial, Simmons walked free from prison in July 2023. In a stunning turn of events, District Attorney Vickie Behenna declared in September that she wouldn't seek a retrial for Simmons due to the absence of physical evidence.

By December, a judge had fully cleared Simmons, citing "clear and convincing evidence" of his innocence, leading to a $175,000 compensation from Oklahoma for his wrongful conviction. After spending 48 years, one month, and 18 days behind bars, Simmons emerged as the longest-serving wrongfully convicted inmate in the US to be cleared, as recorded by The National Registry of Exonerations.

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Despite always claiming he was in Louisiana when the crime occurred, Simmons, along with Roberts, was found guilty of murdering store clerk Carolyn Sue Rogers and initially received the death penalty. Their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment in 1977 following pivotal Supreme Court decisions on capital punishment, and Roberts was paroled in 2008.