A court in the United States cleared 71-year-old Glynn Simmons of a crime he did not commit. The Associated Press and TASS reported the reversal, highlighting a rare correction of a decades-long miscarriage of justice. The verdict confirmed that Simmons was wrongfully convicted for a crime he never committed, leading to his eventual exoneration.
Simmons had faced the death penalty in 1975, a punishment later reduced to life imprisonment in 1977. The extraordinary length of his confinement—more than four decades—made his case one of the longest wrongful imprisonments on record in the country. Following his release, he remains eligible to seek compensation from the state of Oklahoma, with potential restitution of 175 thousand dollars as recognition of the wrongful sentence and legal burden endured.
In another high-profile development, a Missouri court acquitted Lamar Johnson in February 2023 after he had spent nearly thirty years behind bars. The judge found the evidence pointing to Johnson’s innocence to be credible, concluding that maintaining his imprisonment would have been unjust in light of the credible exculpatory information. The decision underscored the ongoing risk of wrongful convictions and the importance of thorough, independent reviews in post-conviction settings.
The report also noted a separate matter from Tomsk where a judge received a suspended sentence for bribery dating back to 2018. The case reflects broader concerns about corruption and the integrity of legal processes, illustrating how varied forms of misconduct can intersect with judicial outcomes across different jurisdictions.