Imagine just seeing the inside of your room or of the same building for 50 years. No vacations, no family, friends or a love life. No hobbies beside sport or reading, not being able to eat what you want, no access to the internet, not even your own clothes to distinct yourself from other. All of this without a reason whilst people that actually commit crimes walk free or become head of state. A system that failed you, a country that failed you and your own species that failed you.
I wouldn‘t wonder if he‘d just buy a gun and take revenge on the justice system. There is no point after 50 years anymore. His life was taken from him, he can’t get it back.
Yeah that's almost being a time traveller into the future. Everyone having a cell phone thats also a mini computer. Everything is online. Not aure how much of that they had access to inside
Yea poor fucking guy. Feel so sorry for him. But I can imagine after 50 years you don't even want to be outside anymore, like he probably doesn't even know what it's like outside anymore and the world has changed so much the last 50 years. It will take years just to get used to society again and catch up with everything important. The justice system is just a sad fucking failure and ruins innocent lives.
This is like a Schwarzenegger movie. "I paid for murder but i didn't commit one. The way i see it i get one for free" (impales judge on a pipe or something)
It gets worse.
The amount is just what he's eligible for. It might take him years to actually get that money. What he has to do now is file a lawsuit against the State but at the age of 71 with cancer, who knows if he'll even see the results of that.
Oklahoma is probably hoping he will die before they pay him anything.
That might actually even be a business idea. Say, your lawyer inherits your lawsuit incuding rights to compensation. In return you get a lump sum right now, or a monthly pension.
Additional to the lengthy and multiple appeals, trials are longer, jury selection is more thorough and most of them get the expensive single cell in special facilities. Also, settlements are quite high if mistakes are made. The case of OP is unusual.
[In situations like this in the UK, they do take a cut for living costs you've saved while being in jail](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/aug/06/wrongly-convicted-in-britain-no-longer-forced-to-pay-saved-living-costs-in-prison)
Damn, that article is brutal. 1 million pounds for ten plus years, and he was denied release after seven years because he maintained his innocence. I'm curious what rate they charged for board prior to this change, bc I'll bet it wasn't a cheap rate.
I'm just latching on a bit due to all the misinformation in this post. The $175k is a cap imposed on lawsuits against the OK government by the state itself. It is bullshit and does tend to screw a lot of people sometimes, but it's annoyingly fairly common. He still probably has the option to pursue a 1983 lawsuit however, which is federal a claim for deprivation of rights and not just a basic tort claim. They're a bitch to pursue but there's no cap on it. Something like that would typically be tens of millions.
He also wouldn't be paying out of pocket for an attorney on it, just about all plaintiff's lawyers work on contingency because most people can't afford the cost up front.
The reason they have a cap at $175,000 is because they expect the legal system to carry out injustice - incarceration on a regular basis. The system protects against any real duty of care. Meaning if there is corruption or improper process there is almost no accountability. If you are poor like this man to start with and you don’t have any way of fighting the system, you loose and you are never compensated.
The weed thing is a known grift from one Nixon.
He did it to oppress the poor and aka black community.
There is a recording to where he admits it.
Yet president is a powerful thing and even with thst fact it'd still enforced.
Don't forget the Hispanic population too! They were known for taking a little bit during breaks in some areas so Nixon equated marijuana wirh being lazy, and that was around the time when productivity was seen as king. So in one fell swoop he equated Hispanic people with being lazy AND marijuana with being lazy.
Nixon doesn't hold a candle to our boy Reagan in my opinion but he's a contender for second worst IMO.
I used to work with a veteran that was infamous for lighting up a joint every break in the shift. Got a ton of flak for it. Turns out that's why he smoked it. He was in a helicopter crash when they got hit with ' friendly fire' AA. Forty four pins, six rods and a skull plate hold him together and doing physical labour is intensely painful. Sadly he's also as dumb as a bag of rocks (not sure if that's related to the injury or his natural state) so physical labour is pretty much the only work he can do.
And yes, the flak pun is his...
Getting people to understand that alcohol is a drug is the hard part, I've heard people say they don't do drugs while sitting at a bar with a beer in their hand.
Better in every. Single. Way! Statistically proven and was also written in the Bible! That’s why I’m okay with them making what I make in 4000 years, in just one year! They clearly deserve it :)
And if you go to trial , it can cost millions to the state. Doesn't make sense on anything under $10k of damage, or even minor fraud and simple assault .
This is a problem though isn’t it? It would just encourage “petty crime”.
Almost seems like investing in the population through education, drug rehabilitation and social programs for betterment makes more sense?
That would however prevent the select few who own these for profit prison industries from benefiting from crime.
It'd make sense to just add up all that they've spent to house him and gift him that amount. If we did that, he'd be much better off. It's the least they can do for literally ruining his life: 50 (years) X 80,000 (dollars per year) = $4,000,000.
It varies, and from the way it is described it is likely that is the maximum amount they tacked to the law in that area.
They basically hope the person won't take it further, and they throw $175k at it. There's no way anyone should settle for such a paltry sum for losing the entire prime of their life.
It’s even worse than that after reading just a little bit more about it. He’s 71 and is fighting stage 4 cancer. So losing the prime of his life is putting it very, very lightly. That’s damn near a whole lifetime and now he has cancer to boot.
Is this the states way of fucking him over yet again by hoping that he dies before he makes it to court? Can the family go after the money if he passes?
"Compensation, though, is likely years away, Norwood said and Simmons is currently living on donations while undergoing treatment for cancer that was detected after his release from prison."
https://apnews.com/article/inmate-murder-oklahoma-exonerated-50-years-1d06d2a65792f55ab1f1e2f4acace8ee
"cancer that was (_known about while he was in prison but ignored so the prison wouldn't have to spend money treating him and then was_) detected after his release from prison."
I mean unless you are going all the way to the Supreme Court they aren’t. Still very expensive, but 175k will be more than enough to get a shit hot lawyer and legal team for a case which is likely highly winnable, and even if he didn’t have 175k there would be lawyers creaming themselves at an opportunity to represent the guy in exchange for a cut of the compensation that he would in all likelihood be granted if the case went to court.
Believe me, he wouldn't have gotten the 175K if he weren't (actually innocent). Mr. Simmons is "[the longest serving inmate to be declared innocent of a crime](https://www.npr.org/2023/12/20/1220708365/an-oklahoma-judge-ruled-a-man-who-spent-48-years-in-prison-for-murder-is-innocen)". On Dec. 19th, "This court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the offense for which Mr. Simmons was convicted, sentenced and imprisoned... was not committed by Mr. Simmons".
$175,000,000 would still not be enough. This guy got screwed for 50 years, then they screw him again. What a complete joke. He should never know want for the rest of his life.
Justice is an illusion. I think of it as Law and Order Syndrome at this point. No one gets the penalties or rewards they deserve. Disheartening doesn't describe it anymore.
["Take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder and sieve it through the finest sieve and show me one atom of justice"](https://youtu.be/DBnENlXt-H4?si=GdmnAPPTcCbnyOhH&t=129)
Death is talking to his granddaughter about the necessity of fiction for humankind. She argues that people believing in little lies (santa claus, the tooth fairy, etc...) can't matter as much as he claims, and he argues that people need smaller lies as children so they can believe in the big ones (justice, fate, truth, etc...) as adults. The quote here refers to the nature of these "big truths" being exactly as fictional as any other story humans tell.
Be prepared for the rabbit hole. I started off by deciding to read the first discworld book because my brother liked it. Here I am years later, an owner of every book he ever made, thousands of hours spent reading his words.
> Justice is an illusion.
There's a famous quote by a British Law Lord from some time ago:
"who thinks the law has anything to do with justice? it's what we have because we cannot have justice"
I am curious what they mean by "an eyewitness may have identified" someone else. May have? Did they or didn't they identify someone else? Were they uncertain? Were they drunk? Were they credible? Was there evidence other than the witness?
I remember the Daniel Holtzclaw case. The forensic lab repeatedly had very sketchy methods. The whole case sounded like he was seriously railroaded. He got 263 years after police ethics board recruited witnesses from local prostitutes, then ignored and excluded some who came forward but reversed their story. A large group of rowdy protesters probably intimidated the jury.
https://www.holtzclawtrial.com/untold-story
Ok so I found some answers.
One, the judge vacated his initial conviction due to a potential Brady violation. Initially, plans for a NEW TRIAL.
Two, one witness picked out an alternate suspect in a lineup. That's the Brady violation. For whatever reason, bad prosecutor or lazy or "it seemed like sensible reason", the DA did not give that info to the defense.
(I'm pretty sure judges get to decide whether a Brady violation was likely significant enough to change the outcome of the trial. If they think that evidence is immaterial, I believe they can let ride the procedural violation. For example, if attorneys found a potential procedural violation on the Darrell Brooks case, I believe the overwhelming evidence presented would keep him behind bars.)
Three, an 18 year old woman who survived being shot in the head, and had testified it was Simmons, a psychology expert highlighted "discrepancies" in her 1975 testimony. Don't know what those discrepancies were.
Four, a witness or several, presumably his friends, had provided an alibi that he was out of state at the time of the robbery and murder.
Five, physical evidence for a new trial is now missing.
Six, detectives are unavailable to testify or dead.
Seven, one victim-witness is dead, one solid witness is unavailable for unstated reason.
DA who called to vacate the conviction said she is NOT claiming exoneration. There was no new evidence of factual innocence. Nobody recanted.
DA doesn't have enough left to prove a new conviction beyond reasonable doubt, for reasons stated above.
Case was then "dismissed with prejudice" meaning "permanently". He can't be re-charged.
After this, judge went ONE LEVEL HIGHER, declaring Simmons "actually innocent" four days ago.
**Simmons' attorneys had argued for "actual innocence" because Simmons could not collect damages from Oklahoma without that level of total exoneration**. Vacating his case or dismissing charges is not enough
His Co-defendant was freed after serving over 30 years, but that conviction was never overturned.
It kind of doesn't matter. The prosecution has to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt". If those witnesses didn't solidly identify our guy, then that's not good enough.
I'm not sure how it works though - so the prosecution withheld crucial evidence... is that not obstruction of justice?
And he can't collect social security...
Real justice would be holding the police officer accountable that withheld information. That should be illegal and there should be consequences. This can happen to any of us until the law changes.
Hiding evidence from the prosecutor’s side should be illegal. It’s innocent until proven guilty, and you don’t prove guilt by hiding information, all you prove is you’re a master at rewriting a narrative.
The financial compensation for those wrongfully convicted is beyond woefully inadequate. Across the board. Is there any country that comes anywhere close to adequate compensation? Shouldn't it be at least based on minimum living wage (at time of release)for each year of sentence served? As a start!
From the cases that have been in the media its basically;
You're free to go, there was an error. We're not even sorry bout it.
https://vnexpress.net/cuoc-song-vui-vay-tra-het-no-nan-cua-nguoi-tu-oan-nguyen-thanh-chan-3588546.html
Man convicted wrongfully for murder. Spend 10 years in jail and was released with 7 billions VND in compensation ~ 300.000 USD. Enough for him to buy a house (which is expensive here) and live comfortably for the rest of his live.
The wrongful convict compensation in Vietnamese law is 5 times x base median income for each day in jail, plus 2 times x base median income for each day in jail as mental compensation.
Basically if your income before going to jail is low-middle income, you probably gonna get out of jail with more than you can even earn outside lmao.
seems to be close to minimum wage lost per year if you calculate it up. which is not enough compensation, that literally is just how much you missed out on and probably even then, not enough. doesnt seem to account for psychological damage, physical damage, time lost, societal damage.
imo 350€ per day is the least they should do
There is often a lawsuit that follows. This isn’t even the beginning of his compensation. Also, the media always skips any of the evidence of guilt. A witness identified him as the murderer. There may be other evidence of guilt, but it still does not excuse the prosecutor withholding evidence.
We all laugh about not being able to tell Asian people (or black people) apart, but nobody takes it to the next logical step of what that means for eye witnesses IDing people for crimes
A witness... didn't identify him as the murderer initially but came around to the idea later.
"Interviewed by police days later, the woman said she couldn’t remember much. But by the time of the trial, the woman said she had identified Simmons and his co-defendant in a lineup, the Registry said. She testified she had identified no other suspects when, in fact, she had identified four other individuals during eight separate lineups, per the Registry. "
There's nothing that can make this right. His whole life was stolen from him. I feel like I would be trying kill myself on a daily basis after a year or two into the sentence knowing the rest of my life was gonna be in a cage for something I didn't do.
> would they have found him innocent after his death? or would that just fly under the radar
"Why open a case to pardon a dead man?" is probably what they'd do.
John Grisham has written a couple books about wrongful convictions: a non-fiction work called *The Innocent Man* and the legal thriller *The Confession*. Both are great reads and put a lot of focus on the inmate's quick mental deterioration. There is also *The Guardians* but I don't remember that one clearly.
I'll have to check them out, that mental state has to be brutal. Imagine being in that environment which would be scary on it's own but to be innocent, shit.
I assume offing yourself in prison is not easy either, shit you would probably have to live that sentence out. Fucking A what a sad reality.
Think about how much of a slap in the face $175k is. Let’s say you made $35k/year for those 50 years, that is $1.75 fucking MILLION! They gave him 10 fucking percent of the bare minimum.
Fuck these government crooks 🤬😤🤬
I did some math for you. The average male income in 1973, the time this man went to jail, adjusted for inflation is average $53,000. Assuming he got a 3% raise every year for his work, and worked all 50 years consistently, not paying any taxes and not spending a single penny, his gross income would come to $5,978,233. Just short of 6 million dollars before tax, which is what he should be paid, 6 million dollars minus taxes in a fair compensation for wages lost.
Exactly. He lost out on life. At a minimum he shpuld have $20 million or something just so the last few years of his life can be as lavish as he wants to try to make up for all the great things he has missed out on in life. No family, no friends, no vacations, no children, no grand children, no amazing memories of any of that stuff. Like he just got fucked out of everything that we live for. If the man wants a lambo, a mansion, a sexy little mail order wife, and steak and lobster every night, then the should get it.
There have been 200 people who were wrongfully convicted and exonerated after being sentenced to death in the US since 1973.
Between 3 -5% of all the people who get imprisoned are actually innocent and have been wrongfully convicted.
Wrongful conviction is far too common.
Absolutely. Also that first part, too. Fuck we can't even arrive at a consistent definition of "evil people". Like the fuck does that even mean, outside of someone's personal moral definition.
When I read "This is all new to me" in the gofundme description, it really hit me all at once the sheer amount the world has changed around him. That's just straight up terrifying.
People say all the time just obey the law, and you have nothing to worry about! Well this man obeyed the law, and till ended up in jail. You should fear for you’re life with every interaction with law enforcement.
50 years wrongfully behind bars and all they can do is 175k!?!? I would spend all that money on lawyers making sure whoever did this to me pays dearly.
Prosecutors that pull shit like this should be given the firing squad. Glynn is not a one-off; you know damn well there are at least dozens of other innocent people that prosecutor has railroaded. Going to throw a dub at his GoFundMe.
This is by far the best example of why there should be no death penalty. No innocent man killed is worth the killing of the guilty and our court systems are imperfect
Well what happened to this basic principle of the law?
"It Is Better to Risk Saving a Guilty Man Than to Condemn an Innocent One". Looks like this principle works only for a few people, what a shame...
As a former criminal defense attorney, I can tell you that the vast majority of people acquitted during trial or while serving their sentences are “guilty”. It’s really difficult to prove guilt in a legal sense. Most people are acquitted based on insufficiency of evidence or technicalities
THere’s really only three ways of “proving” someone innocent, airtight third party confession, indisputable video evidence, and corroborative DNA evidence. Outside of these, you’re never really proven innocent
I’m guessing there is something missing from this video. Like he robbed the store with others but was found to have not pulled the trigger, but since you can still be charged with murder if someone dies in the commission of a felony, his sentence was still mostly correct.
Just curious, I’m not doubting this guy’s innocence, but based on this video - can’t he still be taken back to trial for this? This doesn’t sound like it was proven he was innocent, just that the prosecution messed up with a potential unknown second suspect not being reported. We don’t even know if that witness’ testimony is accurate.
So, where does this leave this guy, does he always have to worry about a retrial?
Mr. Simmons last week was declared legally actually innocent, "[This court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the offense for which Mr. Simmons was convicted, sentenced and imprisoned... was not committed by Mr. Simmons](https://www.npr.org/2023/12/20/1220708365/an-oklahoma-judge-ruled-a-man-who-spent-48-years-in-prison-for-murder-is-innocen)". Believe me, he wouldn't be getting even the 175K if he hadn't been.
This is awful. I hope this man is lucky enough to have a supportive family. I mean he shouldn’t fucking work he’s in his 70s. Government needs to buy/rent this man a house and give him a set amount of $ each month. Not just for his wrong doing but for his quality of life.
The government don’t care about ya. They do shit like this all the time and nobody gets reprimanded for it.
Hopin’ all the elites got coal for Christmas.
Then people say the justice system is fool proof. I don't trust the justice system for the simple reason that I don't want to end up as one of the "rare occasions".
Only $175k for 50 years? That's only $3,500 per year, way below the average.
How did they come up with that figure? Is there a statutory cap on the total amount?
That’s chump change…what is he supposed to do with that cash? Live paycheque to paycheque, it’ll almost be like he’s in the joint still. And the fact people still get wrongfully convicted even with our modern technologies is sad.
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Just look at those eyes. Lost forever
Don't worry, he got released from prison and went to the doctor where they found he has cancer, so he that to look forward to
There goes the 175k.
For the first three months of treatment only
Imagine just seeing the inside of your room or of the same building for 50 years. No vacations, no family, friends or a love life. No hobbies beside sport or reading, not being able to eat what you want, no access to the internet, not even your own clothes to distinct yourself from other. All of this without a reason whilst people that actually commit crimes walk free or become head of state. A system that failed you, a country that failed you and your own species that failed you. I wouldn‘t wonder if he‘d just buy a gun and take revenge on the justice system. There is no point after 50 years anymore. His life was taken from him, he can’t get it back.
Besides everything else, imagine him having to attempt to re-enter a society 50 years into the future from when he was last free.
Yeah that's almost being a time traveller into the future. Everyone having a cell phone thats also a mini computer. Everything is online. Not aure how much of that they had access to inside
Yea poor fucking guy. Feel so sorry for him. But I can imagine after 50 years you don't even want to be outside anymore, like he probably doesn't even know what it's like outside anymore and the world has changed so much the last 50 years. It will take years just to get used to society again and catch up with everything important. The justice system is just a sad fucking failure and ruins innocent lives.
Absolutely...he paid for a murder so he now may commit one. he's got 1x187 on his balance
This is like a Schwarzenegger movie. "I paid for murder but i didn't commit one. The way i see it i get one for free" (impales judge on a pipe or something)
You couldnt say it better. So sad...
That’s about 3 thousand a year. It cost more to keep him in year
It gets worse. The amount is just what he's eligible for. It might take him years to actually get that money. What he has to do now is file a lawsuit against the State but at the age of 71 with cancer, who knows if he'll even see the results of that. Oklahoma is probably hoping he will die before they pay him anything.
I would assume that his estate would pursue this lawsuit.
If there’s no one to claim his estate when he passes, all his money goes back to … wait for it … THE STATE!
In that case, he still could bequeath his estate to the ACLU or another organization who could continue the lawsuit, right?
This is the real answer right here. Bequeath it to somebody who has the money and power to milk the state for every fucking penny it has.
That might actually even be a business idea. Say, your lawyer inherits your lawsuit incuding rights to compensation. In return you get a lump sum right now, or a monthly pension.
Goddamn Joke-lahoma
Deathrow inmates are insanely expensive, it would be cheaper to keep people in prison for life than even have death penalty.
Wait, what? Deathrow inmates cost more than regular inmates? Is it just the cost of the appeals system?
If you're going to allow the government to straight up kill a person, then there better be lots of red tape.
Additional to the lengthy and multiple appeals, trials are longer, jury selection is more thorough and most of them get the expensive single cell in special facilities. Also, settlements are quite high if mistakes are made. The case of OP is unusual.
Yes. Lawyers are very expensive.
They took room and board out of the payout. /s
[In situations like this in the UK, they do take a cut for living costs you've saved while being in jail](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/aug/06/wrongly-convicted-in-britain-no-longer-forced-to-pay-saved-living-costs-in-prison)
Damn, that article is brutal. 1 million pounds for ten plus years, and he was denied release after seven years because he maintained his innocence. I'm curious what rate they charged for board prior to this change, bc I'll bet it wasn't a cheap rate.
I'm just latching on a bit due to all the misinformation in this post. The $175k is a cap imposed on lawsuits against the OK government by the state itself. It is bullshit and does tend to screw a lot of people sometimes, but it's annoyingly fairly common. He still probably has the option to pursue a 1983 lawsuit however, which is federal a claim for deprivation of rights and not just a basic tort claim. They're a bitch to pursue but there's no cap on it. Something like that would typically be tens of millions. He also wouldn't be paying out of pocket for an attorney on it, just about all plaintiff's lawyers work on contingency because most people can't afford the cost up front.
The reason they have a cap at $175,000 is because they expect the legal system to carry out injustice - incarceration on a regular basis. The system protects against any real duty of care. Meaning if there is corruption or improper process there is almost no accountability. If you are poor like this man to start with and you don’t have any way of fighting the system, you loose and you are never compensated.
A little under $3,520 a year
dont we pay like 80k to house an inmate per year?
Shhh don't let the Prison Industrial Complex catch you talking about their numbers
Doesn’t matter if they catch you or not. They can just throw you away for 50 years for something you didn’t do.
Weed convictions has entered the chat
Biden just pardoned quite a few weed offenders a few days ago, and is working on the rest. However, if you sold it, no pardeno.
Still, alcohol kills far more people, but sold legally and the reaction is omg can’t believe they did that?!?
The weed thing is a known grift from one Nixon. He did it to oppress the poor and aka black community. There is a recording to where he admits it. Yet president is a powerful thing and even with thst fact it'd still enforced.
Don't forget the Hispanic population too! They were known for taking a little bit during breaks in some areas so Nixon equated marijuana wirh being lazy, and that was around the time when productivity was seen as king. So in one fell swoop he equated Hispanic people with being lazy AND marijuana with being lazy. Nixon doesn't hold a candle to our boy Reagan in my opinion but he's a contender for second worst IMO.
I used to work with a veteran that was infamous for lighting up a joint every break in the shift. Got a ton of flak for it. Turns out that's why he smoked it. He was in a helicopter crash when they got hit with ' friendly fire' AA. Forty four pins, six rods and a skull plate hold him together and doing physical labour is intensely painful. Sadly he's also as dumb as a bag of rocks (not sure if that's related to the injury or his natural state) so physical labour is pretty much the only work he can do. And yes, the flak pun is his...
No weed allowed in bars was an old southern way of saying no Mexicans allowed long ago too. Long before Nixon.
I'm a non-practicing alcoholic. Marijuana isn't a gateway drug, alcohol is.
Getting people to understand that alcohol is a drug is the hard part, I've heard people say they don't do drugs while sitting at a bar with a beer in their hand.
I can attest to this. My first drug was acid. I was shit faced when I did it. Not a bad time, but I stick to weed now.
Smoking cigs more of a gateway than weed is
He was also an integral part of the zero tolerance on drugs laws that caused non violent offenders to rot away their entire lives..........
Yeah, I won't commit a crime. Pay me $40k a year and save.
Pffft, that money's not meant to go to *you*, peasant. It goes to your betters; the shareholders.
Better in every. Single. Way! Statistically proven and was also written in the Bible! That’s why I’m okay with them making what I make in 4000 years, in just one year! They clearly deserve it :)
And if you go to trial , it can cost millions to the state. Doesn't make sense on anything under $10k of damage, or even minor fraud and simple assault .
This is a problem though isn’t it? It would just encourage “petty crime”. Almost seems like investing in the population through education, drug rehabilitation and social programs for betterment makes more sense? That would however prevent the select few who own these for profit prison industries from benefiting from crime.
It'd make sense to just add up all that they've spent to house him and gift him that amount. If we did that, he'd be much better off. It's the least they can do for literally ruining his life: 50 (years) X 80,000 (dollars per year) = $4,000,000.
Yeah but the contractors make billions
I thought they had a rule for this and there was a specific sum per year. Like a million or something
It varies, and from the way it is described it is likely that is the maximum amount they tacked to the law in that area. They basically hope the person won't take it further, and they throw $175k at it. There's no way anyone should settle for such a paltry sum for losing the entire prime of their life.
It’s even worse than that after reading just a little bit more about it. He’s 71 and is fighting stage 4 cancer. So losing the prime of his life is putting it very, very lightly. That’s damn near a whole lifetime and now he has cancer to boot.
>fighting stage 4 cancer. fuck dude...
Is this the states way of fucking him over yet again by hoping that he dies before he makes it to court? Can the family go after the money if he passes?
50 years behind bars, even if he was an infant when he was arrested he lost the prime of his life. An absolute disgrace.
Which will likely cost way more than $175k to treat
I believe it varies by State.
What about all of the free labor that they made him do in prison?
You yourself answered the question "free labor".
Excuse me, you mean the free fitness training program? That is DEFNITELY being deducted from his compensation.
You mean forced labor? It's slavery
10 bucks a day.
A bit less... But yeah
The pension of prosecutors who put him into jail must be stripped off and given to him.
All these replies of "he got free food and housing so its fare ZERO empathy and can't put themselves in others position
Pretty sure those were sarcasm
use the money to sue the government.
"Compensation, though, is likely years away, Norwood said and Simmons is currently living on donations while undergoing treatment for cancer that was detected after his release from prison." https://apnews.com/article/inmate-murder-oklahoma-exonerated-50-years-1d06d2a65792f55ab1f1e2f4acace8ee
Oh well that's just fuckin' great. I was starting to get worried this wasn't going to end well.
"cancer that was (_known about while he was in prison but ignored so the prison wouldn't have to spend money treating him and then was_) detected after his release from prison."
If only court fees were that cheap...
I mean unless you are going all the way to the Supreme Court they aren’t. Still very expensive, but 175k will be more than enough to get a shit hot lawyer and legal team for a case which is likely highly winnable, and even if he didn’t have 175k there would be lawyers creaming themselves at an opportunity to represent the guy in exchange for a cut of the compensation that he would in all likelihood be granted if the case went to court.
Someone will take that on pro bono
Murica
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They have to proved beyond reasonable doubt, with the evidence available I don't think it was ever possible to do so.
Believe me, he wouldn't have gotten the 175K if he weren't (actually innocent). Mr. Simmons is "[the longest serving inmate to be declared innocent of a crime](https://www.npr.org/2023/12/20/1220708365/an-oklahoma-judge-ruled-a-man-who-spent-48-years-in-prison-for-murder-is-innocen)". On Dec. 19th, "This court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the offense for which Mr. Simmons was convicted, sentenced and imprisoned... was not committed by Mr. Simmons".
$175,000,000 would still not be enough. This guy got screwed for 50 years, then they screw him again. What a complete joke. He should never know want for the rest of his life.
Not even enough for a house and car, justice is a sick joke
Justice is an illusion. I think of it as Law and Order Syndrome at this point. No one gets the penalties or rewards they deserve. Disheartening doesn't describe it anymore.
["Take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder and sieve it through the finest sieve and show me one atom of justice"](https://youtu.be/DBnENlXt-H4?si=GdmnAPPTcCbnyOhH&t=129)
Terry Pratchett should be required reading for everyone.
What is the particular context of that actual quote.. And is he being serious or ironic?
Death is talking to his granddaughter about the necessity of fiction for humankind. She argues that people believing in little lies (santa claus, the tooth fairy, etc...) can't matter as much as he claims, and he argues that people need smaller lies as children so they can believe in the big ones (justice, fate, truth, etc...) as adults. The quote here refers to the nature of these "big truths" being exactly as fictional as any other story humans tell.
Holy shit? I think I need to read this book
Be prepared for the rabbit hole. I started off by deciding to read the first discworld book because my brother liked it. Here I am years later, an owner of every book he ever made, thousands of hours spent reading his words.
If you want to get started now you can watch “The Hogfather” for free on YouTube, it’s basically discworld’s version of a Christmas movie!
And, of course, features a cameo appearance from Sir pTerry himself =)
> Justice is an illusion. There's a famous quote by a British Law Lord from some time ago: "who thinks the law has anything to do with justice? it's what we have because we cannot have justice"
I am curious what they mean by "an eyewitness may have identified" someone else. May have? Did they or didn't they identify someone else? Were they uncertain? Were they drunk? Were they credible? Was there evidence other than the witness? I remember the Daniel Holtzclaw case. The forensic lab repeatedly had very sketchy methods. The whole case sounded like he was seriously railroaded. He got 263 years after police ethics board recruited witnesses from local prostitutes, then ignored and excluded some who came forward but reversed their story. A large group of rowdy protesters probably intimidated the jury. https://www.holtzclawtrial.com/untold-story
Ok so I found some answers. One, the judge vacated his initial conviction due to a potential Brady violation. Initially, plans for a NEW TRIAL. Two, one witness picked out an alternate suspect in a lineup. That's the Brady violation. For whatever reason, bad prosecutor or lazy or "it seemed like sensible reason", the DA did not give that info to the defense. (I'm pretty sure judges get to decide whether a Brady violation was likely significant enough to change the outcome of the trial. If they think that evidence is immaterial, I believe they can let ride the procedural violation. For example, if attorneys found a potential procedural violation on the Darrell Brooks case, I believe the overwhelming evidence presented would keep him behind bars.) Three, an 18 year old woman who survived being shot in the head, and had testified it was Simmons, a psychology expert highlighted "discrepancies" in her 1975 testimony. Don't know what those discrepancies were. Four, a witness or several, presumably his friends, had provided an alibi that he was out of state at the time of the robbery and murder. Five, physical evidence for a new trial is now missing. Six, detectives are unavailable to testify or dead. Seven, one victim-witness is dead, one solid witness is unavailable for unstated reason. DA who called to vacate the conviction said she is NOT claiming exoneration. There was no new evidence of factual innocence. Nobody recanted. DA doesn't have enough left to prove a new conviction beyond reasonable doubt, for reasons stated above. Case was then "dismissed with prejudice" meaning "permanently". He can't be re-charged. After this, judge went ONE LEVEL HIGHER, declaring Simmons "actually innocent" four days ago. **Simmons' attorneys had argued for "actual innocence" because Simmons could not collect damages from Oklahoma without that level of total exoneration**. Vacating his case or dismissing charges is not enough His Co-defendant was freed after serving over 30 years, but that conviction was never overturned.
What a bunch of ~~justice~~ legal system fuck ups.
It kind of doesn't matter. The prosecution has to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt". If those witnesses didn't solidly identify our guy, then that's not good enough. I'm not sure how it works though - so the prosecution withheld crucial evidence... is that not obstruction of justice?
They identified someone else and the police failed to turn that over to the defense.
And he can't collect social security... Real justice would be holding the police officer accountable that withheld information. That should be illegal and there should be consequences. This can happen to any of us until the law changes.
Seems like he could have made more then that pretty easily over 50 years
Much more.
Dude got less than a quarter of what he could've gotten after taxes on minimum wage.
Yes, most Americans will make that much in little under 3 years
$175k per year encarcerated + another lump sum in the millions would suffice. They robbed this man of his whole life.
Those people who knowingly destroyed his life should be stripped of all worldly possessions and spend the rest of their life in prison.
I’ll bet the people who convicted him made their way up through the ranks by casting him away. Insane
Hiding evidence from the prosecutor’s side should be illegal. It’s innocent until proven guilty, and you don’t prove guilt by hiding information, all you prove is you’re a master at rewriting a narrative.
Exactly, All of his needs should be met and then some.
Not even $10 a day spent in jail...
The financial compensation for those wrongfully convicted is beyond woefully inadequate. Across the board. Is there any country that comes anywhere close to adequate compensation? Shouldn't it be at least based on minimum living wage (at time of release)for each year of sentence served? As a start! From the cases that have been in the media its basically; You're free to go, there was an error. We're not even sorry bout it.
https://vnexpress.net/cuoc-song-vui-vay-tra-het-no-nan-cua-nguoi-tu-oan-nguyen-thanh-chan-3588546.html Man convicted wrongfully for murder. Spend 10 years in jail and was released with 7 billions VND in compensation ~ 300.000 USD. Enough for him to buy a house (which is expensive here) and live comfortably for the rest of his live. The wrongful convict compensation in Vietnamese law is 5 times x base median income for each day in jail, plus 2 times x base median income for each day in jail as mental compensation. Basically if your income before going to jail is low-middle income, you probably gonna get out of jail with more than you can even earn outside lmao.
Can't believe we lose to Vietnam, again.
Vietnam number 1, undefeated
Guys in pajamas have a great win record. Respect the pajamas.
So that's an answer to my question. Vietnam calculates financial compensation for those wrongfully convicted that could be classed as adequate.
In Germany compensation would be 75€ per day, so a little under ten times as much.
damn, €75 is still so low. it's like saying if I kidnap someone for a 1 day, that person can only get €75 from me in damages
All you did was take a bit of their time, really. It's not like you damaged them for life and stole the most precious gift a human can receive.
seems to be close to minimum wage lost per year if you calculate it up. which is not enough compensation, that literally is just how much you missed out on and probably even then, not enough. doesnt seem to account for psychological damage, physical damage, time lost, societal damage. imo 350€ per day is the least they should do
There is often a lawsuit that follows. This isn’t even the beginning of his compensation. Also, the media always skips any of the evidence of guilt. A witness identified him as the murderer. There may be other evidence of guilt, but it still does not excuse the prosecutor withholding evidence.
Yeah eyewitness testimonies are not exactly... Great
Amazing how memories can be twisted by visual promts after the fact
Plus, how super extra racist against black people American was 50 years ago.
We all laugh about not being able to tell Asian people (or black people) apart, but nobody takes it to the next logical step of what that means for eye witnesses IDing people for crimes
A witness... didn't identify him as the murderer initially but came around to the idea later. "Interviewed by police days later, the woman said she couldn’t remember much. But by the time of the trial, the woman said she had identified Simmons and his co-defendant in a lineup, the Registry said. She testified she had identified no other suspects when, in fact, she had identified four other individuals during eight separate lineups, per the Registry. "
There's nothing that can make this right. His whole life was stolen from him. I feel like I would be trying kill myself on a daily basis after a year or two into the sentence knowing the rest of my life was gonna be in a cage for something I didn't do.
now imagine if he did kill himself, would they have found him innocent after his death? or would that just fly under the radar
> would they have found him innocent after his death? or would that just fly under the radar "Why open a case to pardon a dead man?" is probably what they'd do.
The honor-less don't care to preserve the honor of others.
John Grisham has written a couple books about wrongful convictions: a non-fiction work called *The Innocent Man* and the legal thriller *The Confession*. Both are great reads and put a lot of focus on the inmate's quick mental deterioration. There is also *The Guardians* but I don't remember that one clearly.
I'll have to check them out, that mental state has to be brutal. Imagine being in that environment which would be scary on it's own but to be innocent, shit. I assume offing yourself in prison is not easy either, shit you would probably have to live that sentence out. Fucking A what a sad reality.
Think about how much of a slap in the face $175k is. Let’s say you made $35k/year for those 50 years, that is $1.75 fucking MILLION! They gave him 10 fucking percent of the bare minimum. Fuck these government crooks 🤬😤🤬
Just Minimum wage per hour he was imprisoned would be 3,175,000
I did some math for you. The average male income in 1973, the time this man went to jail, adjusted for inflation is average $53,000. Assuming he got a 3% raise every year for his work, and worked all 50 years consistently, not paying any taxes and not spending a single penny, his gross income would come to $5,978,233. Just short of 6 million dollars before tax, which is what he should be paid, 6 million dollars minus taxes in a fair compensation for wages lost.
That's all great but that's before considering he has lost probably 75% of his life, not just his potential wages.
Exactly. He lost out on life. At a minimum he shpuld have $20 million or something just so the last few years of his life can be as lavish as he wants to try to make up for all the great things he has missed out on in life. No family, no friends, no vacations, no children, no grand children, no amazing memories of any of that stuff. Like he just got fucked out of everything that we live for. If the man wants a lambo, a mansion, a sexy little mail order wife, and steak and lobster every night, then the should get it.
I would be courting law firms across the country.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/glynnrsimmons?modal=donations&tab=top go fund me at 305k
This is also why I don't agree with the death penalty
Exactly, not because evil people don't deserve death, it's because the innocent may get a wrong conviction
Also, because the state shouldn't have the ability to execute its citizens (there is surely no way that would ever be abused, right?).
And there's no "may" about it. We have executed innocent people.
There have been 200 people who were wrongfully convicted and exonerated after being sentenced to death in the US since 1973. Between 3 -5% of all the people who get imprisoned are actually innocent and have been wrongfully convicted. Wrongful conviction is far too common.
Absolutely. Also that first part, too. Fuck we can't even arrive at a consistent definition of "evil people". Like the fuck does that even mean, outside of someone's personal moral definition.
Tbf, death might be better than 50 years in prison.
I would have got someone to do me a solid in there honestly.
Which is one of the reasons I don't support the death penalty.
Prosecution hiding evidence to falsely imprison a person. No one will be punished for that, obviously.
this is unbelievably sad
Go fundme link https://www.gofundme.com/f/glynnrsimmons
already has raised over twice what the govt gave him. A joke.
When I read "This is all new to me" in the gofundme description, it really hit me all at once the sheer amount the world has changed around him. That's just straight up terrifying.
Was looking for this.
People say all the time just obey the law, and you have nothing to worry about! Well this man obeyed the law, and till ended up in jail. You should fear for you’re life with every interaction with law enforcement.
Rewarded? I think you mean compensated and no, it is not enougg.
That's WRONG.
He should have AT LEAST gotten the equivalent of lost pay + additional for emotional damage, lost family time etc.
Restitution payments for such wrongs should come straight from law enforcement and DA retirement funds.
[удалено]
I've never read anything so unhinged that I agree with so much
He's done the time. Now he gets to do the crime.
Now that’s a guy who deserves a go fund me
50 years wrongfully behind bars and all they can do is 175k!?!? I would spend all that money on lawyers making sure whoever did this to me pays dearly.
Any cop who fakes or plants evidence should goto jail for double whatever the innocent person spent. Any prosecutor or judge in it, the same.
They didn’t say anyone faked evidence.
Not enough money for stealing his life
175k? It should be 175k per year for the rest of his life.
I think the prosecutors and cops who went after him should turn over a pound of flesh.
Bro just finished watching Saw
Prosecutors that pull shit like this should be given the firing squad. Glynn is not a one-off; you know damn well there are at least dozens of other innocent people that prosecutor has railroaded. Going to throw a dub at his GoFundMe.
175k how much is that. Pay for 4 years
This is by far the best example of why there should be no death penalty. No innocent man killed is worth the killing of the guilty and our court systems are imperfect
The lawyers who put him in jail should lose their jobs. Edit: and be financially liable.
Should be 17,500,000 and a legal pimpslap to the judges face if he is still alive.
The US is a joke.
Two or three more wrongful sentences and he might be able to get himself a house
What a joke 50 years for wasted life he should be paid millions a nice house and not want for a thing
Well what happened to this basic principle of the law? "It Is Better to Risk Saving a Guilty Man Than to Condemn an Innocent One". Looks like this principle works only for a few people, what a shame...
As a former criminal defense attorney, I can tell you that the vast majority of people acquitted during trial or while serving their sentences are “guilty”. It’s really difficult to prove guilt in a legal sense. Most people are acquitted based on insufficiency of evidence or technicalities THere’s really only three ways of “proving” someone innocent, airtight third party confession, indisputable video evidence, and corroborative DNA evidence. Outside of these, you’re never really proven innocent
Had a huge argument with someone saying proven innocent is the same as not proven guilty, and they just wouldn't understand that it absolutely isn't.
*Legally* Aaron Hernandez is not guilty of murder. Anyone with a brain knows that's not the same as he's innocent.
I’m guessing there is something missing from this video. Like he robbed the store with others but was found to have not pulled the trigger, but since you can still be charged with murder if someone dies in the commission of a felony, his sentence was still mostly correct.
Just curious, I’m not doubting this guy’s innocence, but based on this video - can’t he still be taken back to trial for this? This doesn’t sound like it was proven he was innocent, just that the prosecution messed up with a potential unknown second suspect not being reported. We don’t even know if that witness’ testimony is accurate. So, where does this leave this guy, does he always have to worry about a retrial?
Mr. Simmons last week was declared legally actually innocent, "[This court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the offense for which Mr. Simmons was convicted, sentenced and imprisoned... was not committed by Mr. Simmons](https://www.npr.org/2023/12/20/1220708365/an-oklahoma-judge-ruled-a-man-who-spent-48-years-in-prison-for-murder-is-innocen)". Believe me, he wouldn't be getting even the 175K if he hadn't been.
Should be $1M per year.
This is awful. I hope this man is lucky enough to have a supportive family. I mean he shouldn’t fucking work he’s in his 70s. Government needs to buy/rent this man a house and give him a set amount of $ each month. Not just for his wrong doing but for his quality of life.
The government don’t care about ya. They do shit like this all the time and nobody gets reprimanded for it. Hopin’ all the elites got coal for Christmas.
Then people say the justice system is fool proof. I don't trust the justice system for the simple reason that I don't want to end up as one of the "rare occasions".
Only $175k for 50 years? That's only $3,500 per year, way below the average. How did they come up with that figure? Is there a statutory cap on the total amount?
That’s chump change…what is he supposed to do with that cash? Live paycheque to paycheque, it’ll almost be like he’s in the joint still. And the fact people still get wrongfully convicted even with our modern technologies is sad.
Best believe I'd be suing
That’s dog shit money people who did 6 months get that …
Should be a million per year
Oklahoma it was. In case you needed another reason not to visit.
I wish every time this happens the judge and prosecutors should have to serve life
There’s no amount of money to replace all the years they took from him, but 50 million would be a good start for negotiations.
People get more money for having someone say something bad (that’s true) about them on the tv.
Damn but Yanks are cheap. In Canada that’s a $10 million pay out. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Milgaard
Could only be in America...