Vincent Simmons

Vincent Alfred Simmons (born February 17, 1952) is an American man who was wrongly imprisoned at Angola State Prison in Louisiana, where he was sentenced to 100 years in July 1977 after being convicted of the "attempted aggravated rapes" of 14-year-old twin sisters Karen and Sharon Sanders of Marksville. Simmons has maintained his innocence throughout. By 1999 Simmons had filed numerous habeas corpus writs, but had not gained an evidentiary hearing by a Louisiana court. He is the sole subject of a follow-up documentary Shadows of Doubt: Vincent Simmons, which explored his case, its weaknesses, and his severe sentence. He is the son of Alzica and James Simmons, and has several siblings, including younger sisters Della and Olivia, and brother Philip "Bear" Simmons. At the police station, they placed him in a line-up of seven men, including one white man. Simmons was positioned in the center of the group and was the only man who was handcuffed. Three police officers do not agree among themselves as to whether Simmons was in handcuffs in the lineup, or photographed in handcuffs with the group at a different time.

Prosecutor Eddie Knoll gained an indictment against Simmons from the parish grand jury on two counts of aggravated rape.

Contemporary legal environment The United States Supreme Court in Furman v. Georgia (1972) had ruled that states' laws on implementing the death penalty were so arbitrary in application as to be unconstitutional and ordered them to be rewritten. Executions of persons on death rows were suspended and the respective state courts were ordered to amend their sentences to the next lower level of severity, generally life imprisonment. The sentences of more than 600 persons on death row were commuted to life; 587 of these individuals were men.

In the years following, the Louisiana legislature rewrote its death penalty statute. Among the crimes for which it imposed capital punishment was aggravated rape. The United States Supreme Court ruled in Selman v. Louisiana, 428 U.S. 906, 96 S. Ct. 3214, 49 L. Ed. 2d 1212 (1976), that "the imposition and enforcement of the death penalty in aggravated rape cases under the statute at issue ... constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments."

In Coker v. Georgia (decided June 29, 1977), the US Supreme Court overturned any use of capital punishment as the penalty for rape, ruling that it was "cruel and unusual punishment" under the 8th Amendment to the Constitution. By order of the court, inmates on Death Row for aggravated rape were to have their sentences judicially amended to the next level of severity; in Louisiana, convicted rapists on Death Row had their sentences commuted to a maximum of 20 years in prison. and in 1996 to the State Supreme Court, from which she retired in 2016.

Days before the Simmons trial, DA Eddie Knoll amended the charges against the defendant to "attempted aggravated rape." Simmons had not been indicted on these charges. Knoll did not explain to the jury why Simmons was being charged with two counts of "attempted aggravated rape", when the testimony they were hearing was based upon justifying the charges of two counts of aggravated rape.

No physical evidence from the car was presented in the Simmons case to tie him to the alleged rapes. No physical evidence was presented to prove that the rapes had occurred. The case was based on testimony by the Sanders' twins and LaBorde. Simmons' defense presented several alibi eyewitnesses who said that Simmons was with them at a local bar the night of the rapes. Knoll attacked the credibility of these witnesses in front of the jury, suggesting that prior minor crimes of the witnesses, such as littering, parking fines, and disturbing the peace, should affect their credibility.

Defense attorney Brouillette never questioned the state's witnesses regarding their statements. He failed to note the numerous discrepancies between the twins' and their cousin's police interviews, preliminary examinations, and testimony at trial.

Representation in other media Simmons has been featured in three documentaries, one that was focused primarily on him and his case. He is one of six inmate subjects of the documentary The Farm: Life In Angola Prison (1998) (broadcast on HBO and available on Netflix), which won an Emmy Award and numerous others, and was nominated for an Academy Award. It included a painful scene of Simmons' appeal to the parole board, which turned him down with little discussion, and outright dismissal of evidence with which he tried to show his innocence, including evidence records.

Jonathan Stack, one of the directors and producers of that film, returned to Angola and Avoyelles Parish to explore more about Simmons and his case. He hired a private investigator to talk with Simmons' family, as well as police officials, prosecutor Eddie Knoll (who served until 2003), one juror from the trial, witnesses, and people in the town and parish to understand more about Simmons' life. Two defense attorneys commented on the conduct of the trial and issues with the lack of exculpatory evidence given to the defense. (This was disputed by the prosecutor.) Stack arranged a meeting between Simmons and the Sanders twins who had accused him of rape 20 years before. Simmons is the sole subject of a follow-up documentary Shadows of Doubt: Vincent Simmons (1999), which is now available for viewing on YouTube.

In addition, Stack directed and produced The Farm: 10 Down (2009), about the surviving men of the six he had featured, 10 years later. Simmons is featured as one of the survivors and continues to maintain his innocence.