71-year-old man declared innocent after spending 48 years in prison

A 71-year-old man, Glynn Simmons has been declared innocent in the US state of Oklahoma after spending 48 years, one month, and 18 days in prison for a murder he did not commit.

Simmons was sentenced to prison in 1975 for the murder of Carolyn Rogers during a liquor store robbery in an Oklahoma City suburb.

He was convicted to life imprisonment alongside Don Roberts. Their sentence was solely based on the testimony of a teenage customer who was shot in the head during the robbery but survived.

She picked them out of a police lineup but a subsequent investigation cast significant doubt on the reliability of her identifications.

Both men had also claimed at trial that they were not even in Oklahoma at the time of the murder.

Simmons had said he was in his home state of Louisiana at the time of the murder.

However, an order on Tuesday by Oklahoma County District Judge, Amy Palumbo, exonerated Simmons.

“This court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the offence for which Mr. Simmons was convicted, sentenced and imprisoned… was not committed by Mr. Simmons,” Palumbo said in a ruling.

Roberts, Simmons co-defendant, was released from prison in 2008, according to The National Registry of Exonerations.

Reacting to the judgement, Simmons said, “It’s a lesson in resilience and tenacity,” Mr Simmons told reporters after the decision, according to the Associated Press. “Don’t let nobody tell you that it can’t happen, because it really can.”

At the time of his arrest, Simmons was 22 years old – making him the longest-serving inmate to be cleared, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.

Simmons may now be eligible for compensation.

Wrongfully convicted people who serve time in Oklahoma are eligible for up to $175,000 (£138,000) in compensation.

However, one of Simmons’ attorneys, Joe Norwood, added that Simmons is living off of donations, primarily from GoFundMe, while he’s undergoing cancer treatment, USA Today reported.

“Whatever compensation he has coming is down the road, but I would just encourage people to donate to Glynn’s GoFundMe because money ain’t showing up in his bank account tomorrow,” Norwood said.

Norwood said the state of Oklahoma wrongfully took a chunk of his life away.

“He had 50 years stolen from him, the prime of his work life when he could have been getting experiences, developing skills. That was taken from him, by no fault of his own, by other people,” he said.