Vincent Simmons, imprisoned for 44 years for rape, freed from Louisiana prison after evidence withhe

A Louisiana man imprisoned for more than 44 years on charges of attempted aggravated rape that he has long denied was released from prison on Monday, and the charges were vacated after a judge ruled that he did not get a fair trial decades ago.

Vincent Simmons, a 69-year-old Black man, was convicted by a nearly all-White jury in 1977 and sentenced to 100 years in prison for the attempted sexual assault of 14-year-old twin sisters Karen and Sharon Sanders in Marksville, La.

Simmons, who had previously tried about 16 times to get a new trial, earned a hearing after CBS News reported that key pieces of evidence were not shared with the original defense team — including testimony from the doctor who examined the teens and found no signs of sexual assault on either of them. Also withheld was evidence that indicated the White girls initially told police they didn’t know who assaulted them, saying that “all Black people look alike.”

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Because of that, Judge Bill Bennett freed Simmons from Angola State Penitentiary and ordered a new trial because of evidence that was not turned over to the man’s original attorneys. After the district attorney announced he would not retry Simmons, the Louisiana man was declared a free man days before his 70th birthday.

“I find that the time limitations have been overcome by the allegations of new evidence and in the interest of justice,” Bennett said, noting he expressed “no opinion” on whether Simmons was guilty or innocent.

Avoyelles Parish District Attorney Charles Riddle III said in a statement shared with The Washington Post that although there was “sufficient evidence to find Vincent Simmons guilty,” he did not want the victims “to undergo the trauma of another trial.”

“Just in case anyone has any doubt, no, this is not a declaration of innocence at all. We attempted to free him months ago because he has served enough time,” Riddle wrote. “Let this case be put to bed and the victims free from suffering again.”

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As he exited the prison Monday, Simmons said God was the reason he kept faith that he would be released.

“God kept hope alive in me,” he said, according to the KALB television station. “God did this for me today.”

Justin Bonus, one of Simmons’s attorneys, told The Washington Post that he was relieved his client was released. He argued that the district attorney choosing not to retry Simmons was the equivalent of an acquittal.

“Finally [the court] gave him justice,” Bonus said.

In May 1977, Karen and Sharon Sanders gave statements to the police, saying Simmons encountered them with their 18-year-old cousin Keith Laborde at a gas station, asking for a ride and then demanding that the four go down an isolated dirt road and park. Once there, the girls alleged that Simmons forced Laborde into the trunk while he raped them and left them in the trunk of the car, threatening retaliation if they spoke about what happened.

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The girls spoke with police two weeks later, describing a violent, disturbing encounter. Sharon said she bled, and Karen said Simmons pointed a knife at her.

However, medical reports, which were not provided to the defense by prosecutors, according to Simmons, say the girls were not bruised. The jury of 11 White men and one Black woman never saw the reports or learned of the girls’ initial descriptions of their attacker as an indistinguishable Black man. The jury quickly convicted Simmons.

In a 1998 documentary, “The Farm: Angola, USA,” Simmons appealed to a parole board, saying the evidence he had discovered while in prison proved his innocence. But the Sanders sisters prevailed, and his petition was denied.

“We didn’t have none of this evidence,” he told the board. “None of this evidence was presented before the jury. The DA had it in his file and testified before the jury that they was brutally raped.”

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Former district attorney Eddie Knoll said in court documents that he gave the defense access to his file.

The sisters, now 59, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The twins, who have maintained that Simmons is guilty, explained to KALB why they agreed to Riddle’s dismissal of the attempted rape charges. Sharon Sanders they have “had enough” of dealing with the case.

“We got 44 years; we’re happy with that. We’re tired. We want it behind us,” Karen Sanders said. “He went in guilty, he’s still guilty, and he’ll die guilty.”

She added, “We got our 44 years, praise God!”

Bonus told The Post that Simmons was resting with his family on Wednesday morning. The attorney emphasized that Simmons holds “no anger” toward the sisters.

“He has no malice toward them,” Bonus said.

Read more:

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Her execution date looming, a mother maintains innocence in 2-year-old daughter’s death

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