A 71-year-old man was acquitted in the US state of Oklahoma after spending nearly 50 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.
Glenn Simons is the prisoner who spent the longest time behind bars before being exonerated in the history of the United States, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.
Simons was released in July after spending 48 years, one month and 18 days in prison.
Simmons and another man, Don Roberts, were sentenced to death in 1975 for the murder of a store clerk during a robbery in Edmond, Oklahoma.
Their sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
Simons and Roberts were convicted based solely on the testimony of a teenage customer who was shot in the head during the robbery but survived.
The teenager identified Simons and Roberts from among a group of suspects, but a later investigation questioned the credibility of her choice.
The two men confirmed, during their trial, that they were not present in Oklahoma during the crime.
US District Court Judge Amy Palumbo dismissed the charge against Simons in July, and declared him innocent during Tuesday's hearing in an Oklahoma court.
“It is the day we have been waiting for for a very long time,” Simons said in a statement to reporters, adding, “We can say that justice has finally been achieved.”
Roberts was released in 2008, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.
Simons may be eligible for compensation.
He said, “What happened cannot be undone, but accountability is possible, and this is what I am currently seeking.”
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