Louisiana Man Released After 44 Years In Jail As Judge Overturns Conviction

NEW YORK (VINnews) — A Louisiana citizen jailed for 100 years in 1977 for the attempted aggravated rape of 14-year-old twin sisters has been released after a judge declared that he was not given a fair trial when convicted.

Vincent Simmons, the black man convicted of the crime, spent nearly 45 years Angola State Penitentiary despite persistently denying committing the crime .In the past Simmons, who is now 69 years old, had requested 16 times to get a retrial. A CBS investigation revealed that a series of evidence had not been handed over to the defense. Among these was the crucial testimony of a doctor who claimed that there were no signs of sexual violence against the girls. Moreover the first testimony of the two girls said that they couldn’t tell who attacked them because “all blacks look alike”.

Based on these revelations, Avoyelles Parish Judge William Bennett finally granted a new trial at a hearing on Monday.. District Attorney Charlie Riddle then dismissed the charges against Simmons with the consent of the women, Sharon and Karen Sanders. Riddle said while he believed there was enough evidence to convict Simmons again, “for what purpose” would he make the women go through another trial.

Riddle also reiterated the fact that this decision does not mean Simmons is innocent, saying, “Just in case anyone has any doubt, no, this is not a declaration of innocence at all.”

Simmons was convicted in 1977 just 60 days after the allegations in a trial which lasted just one day.

The reaction when Judge Bennett granted that motion to retry the case and when Riddle said they would not retry the case was an eruption of joy and cheers from family and friends of Simmons.

Simmons himself was kind of quiet, likely in shock. When asked what kept the faith for him through all those years of being in prison, he said: “God, God kept the faith for me.”

Simmons’ attorney, Justin Bonus, shared his thoughts after the hearing: “This is the first time he’s ever received justice. And I think Judge Bennett said it on the record, and God used Judge Bennett to cut him loose.”

“For 28 years his petitions were being denied. The 16 other years that he was in there, that evidence was being withheld from him,” Bonus said.

“Think about that. And what I think people really need to think about is it could be you. It could be you, right?” he said. “People don’t think about that like that. This type of thing could be done to him; you could be framed and in 60 days thrown in prison for 100 years. That is shocking.”

The sisters themselves, Karen and Sharon Sanders explained why they dropped the charges: “We’ve had enough. We’ve fought for 44 years, we’ve had enough. We’ve got 44 years, we’re happy with that. We’re tired. We want it behind us. He went in guilty, he’s still guilty and he’ll die guilty. We’ve got our 44 years, praise God!”