US judge exonerates inmate after 48 years in prison

USA: An Oklahoma judge has exonerated a man who was in prison for almost half a century for a 1974 murder, the longest wrongful sentence to be served in the US.

Glynn Simmons, 70, was freed in July when a judge ordered a new trial.

But a county district attorney said on Monday there was not enough evidence to warrant one.

In an order on Tuesday, Oklahoma County District Judge Amy Palumbo declared Mr Simmons innocent.

“This court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the offence for which Mr Simmons was convicted, sentenced and imprisoned… was not committed by Mr Simmons,” she said in a ruling.

“It’s a lesson in resilience and tenacity,” Mr Simmons told reporters after the decision, according to the Associated Press. “Don’t let nobody tell you that it can’t happen, because it really can.”