Who is Vincent Simmons and what happened to him?

A PRISON inmate was set free after his charges were dismissed, his freedom comes 44 years after his conviction.

Vincent Simmons was sentenced on July 28, 1977 and was exonerated of his criminal convictions four decades later.

Who is Vincent Simmons?

Vincent Simmons is a Louisiana native who was convicted of two charges of attempted aggravated rape in July of 1977.

Each charge resulted in a 50 year sentence for Simmons.

Throughout serving his incarceration, the Louisiana native maintained his innocence and insisted he was not the culprit behind sexually assaulting the two victims.

During his imprisonment, Simmons pushed for his trial’s verdict to be overturned a reported 16 times.

What happened to Vincent Simmons?

On February 14, 2022, Vincent Simmons’ original verdict was overturned and his charges were dismissed.

After four lengthy decades of incarceration, he was granted freedom due to new evidence unearthed by CBS News, which was not presented to the jury in 1977.

Simmons told KALB: “God kept hope alive in me. God did this for me today.”

His lawyers, Justin Bonus and Malcolm Larvadain told CBS the day he was released: “The fact that he’s not angry … that’s the thing about Vincent. If I was Vincent, I’d be angry.”

Simmons’ lawyers added: “He’s not angry. He forgives them because he knows vengeance isn’t his.”

Was Vincent Simmons granted a new trial?

When Simmons was released, Judge Bill Bennett of the Avoyelles Parish Bar Association ordered a new trial.

However, District Attorney Charles Riddles III dismissed any further charges against Simmons, so there will not be a new trial.

In official court documents, Riddles III stated: “Just in case anyone has any doubt, no this is not a declaration of innocence at all.”

The district attorney added: “We attempted to free him months ago because he has served enough time. Let this case be put to bed and the victims free from suffering again.”