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Along with another man, Glynn Simmons was sentenced to death in 1975 for the murder of a liquor store clerk during a robbery in Edmond, a city in the state of Oklahoma.
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A 71yearold man was declared innocent this Tuesday in the US state of Oklahoma after spending almost 50 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.
Glynn Simmons was the person who spent the longest time in prison in United States history before being exonerated, according to the U.S. National Registry of Exonerations.
Along with another man, Don Roberts, Simmons was sentenced to death in 1975 for the murder of a liquor store clerk during a robbery in Edmond, an Oklahoma city.
The sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
The conviction of the two men was decided based on the simple testimony of one of the store's customers, a teenager who was shot in the head during the robbery but survived.
The teenager claimed to have recognized her during the identification session, but a subsequent investigation questioned her claims.
During the trial, both men claimed they were not in Oklahoma on the day of the robbery.
“Justice was finally served this Wednesday.”
Glynn Simmons was released in July after 48 years, one month and 18 days in prison and was found innocent this Tuesday by an Oklahoma court, which overturned his conviction.
“This is a day we have been waiting for for a long time. We can say that justice was finally done this Wednesday,” Simmons said in an interview with reporters.
The other man convicted in the case, Don Roberts, was released from prison in 2008, according to the U.S. National Registry of Exonerations.
Glynn Simmons is now entitled to compensation.
“What was done was done, but there must be accountability,” he stressed.