(CN) — A federal judge in Oklahoma Tuesday declined to throw out civil rights claims against an Oklahoma City police detective accused of fabricating evidence that resulted in the 1975 conviction of Glynn Simmons, who is believed to be the longest-serving exoneree in American history.
Simmons spent almost half a century in prison after he was convicted for the 1974 murder of a liquor store clerk who was shot and killed during a robbery in Edmond, Oklahoma. Belinda Brown, a witness who survived the robbery, testified at trial she had identified Simmons in police lineups. Simmons had been arrested based on suspected involvement in unrelated robberies in Oklahoma City. Other witnesses, however, testified that at the time of the shooting Simmons was 200 miles away in Harvey, Louisiana.
After Simmons’ conviction was overturned in 2023 based on suppression of exculpatory evidence, Simmons sued the city of Edmond and Oklahoma City, along with Oklahoma City detective Claude Shobert and the estate of a deceased Edmond police detective, whom Simmons claims fabricated evidence against him and hid exculpatory evidence related to the lineups…