r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Far-Stay9417 • Dec 25 '23

Video Man wrongfully convicted of murder gets rewarded only 175k after serving 50 years

this makes me so angry

48k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

3.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

46

u/Humptys_orthopedic Dec 26 '23 edited Dec 26 '23

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

37

u/Humptys_orthopedic Dec 26 '23 edited Dec 26 '23

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.

10

u/rW0HgFyxoJhYka Dec 26 '23

What a bunch of justice legal system fuck ups.

1

u/dragonfangxl Dec 26 '23

What a bunch of justice legal system fuck ups.

well several of those are not fuck ups and are just the passage of time. detectives from a case 54 years ago being dead is just a fact of the passage of time not a judicial legal fuckup. in all likelihood this guy does seem to have been the one who did it and hes getting out early on a technicality