Newly Discovered Evidence Proves That the Crime Never Happened: Relatives Say Alleged Victims Made Up the Story of Rape by Black Man
A Small Town with Ugly History of Racism Fights to Keep Man in Prison for 100 Years
(Marksville, Louisiana, October 13, 2020) In 1977, two 14-year-old white girls in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, a small community in the center of the state with an ugly history of racism, alleged that they were brutally raped and kidnapped along with their 18 year old male cousin, by an unknown Black man. Vincent Simmons was picked up by police and, in a shocking photo obtained by the defense decades after the trial, shows a him in handcuffs as the alleged victims picked him out of the lineup.
“There was no sexual assault or rape, no kidnapping. In fact, there is no evidence today, or presented at trial 44 years ago, that links Vincent Simmons with the alleged crime or alleged victims. These three young people at the time, to avoid embarrassment over their antics, and with the complicity of the police, prosecutors and judge, placed an innocent man in prison for 44 years, where he remains today.
“This is a story you might hear when speaking of Jim Crow and the rape myth involving Black men and white women that resulted in so many tragic lynchings and wrongful convictions,” said Justin Bonus, Simmons attorney.
Now, relatives of the trio have come forward providing sworn affidavits that the rape of the two young girls never occurred, and that the three lied about a Black man. One of the victims admitted that Vincent Simmons never raped the two young girls, and never placed anyone in the trunk of the car, as was alleged.
According to the affidavit, “The whole case was a lie. Laborde said he took the twins down Little California Rd., in Marksville LA and put Sharon in the trunk and had consensual sex with Karen in the back seat of the car. In fact, according to the affidavit, Laborde stated that the had sex with his 14-year-old cousin and locked the other in the trunk of the car when she refused his advances. “He then attempted to have sex with Sharon and referred to her as a ‘hellcat’ when she would not allow him to have ex with her.”
Medical evidence from the coroner was kept hidden from the defense at the time of the trial, and recently corroborated by a forensic pathology expert, proves that neither of the girls were raped. Evidence, that if had been made available to the defense as was legally mandated and presented at trial, would likely have resulted in an acquittal of the charges.
In a hastily conceived two-day trial, less than 60 days after his arrest, with no physical evidence tying him to the crime, Simmons was convicted and sentenced to 100 years in prison. Now, 44 long years later, still incarcerated, he fights to overturn the wrongful conviction.
In fact, the lone Black person on the jury, now states in a sworn affidavit that she was not only scared and coerced into a conviction, had she known of the medial reports, she would have likely acquitted Mr. Simmons. This juror was not aware of the medical evidence that the coroner had reported. “Had I heard that I would have at least acquitted Vincent of the rape of Sharon Sanders. I now believe Vincent is innocent.”
The juror goes on to state that during deliberations “I had doubt, but I was harassed by the other white men who were in the jury. I was the only Black person who deliberated of the 12. I was told that my vote did not count, that you needed only 10 to convict. The other 11 white people voted guilty immediately.”
According to Michael R. Leippe, Ph.D., and expert in eyewitness memory and behavior, “There were numerous factors in the Simmons case that cast considerable doubt on the accuracy of the eyewitness identifications, even if they were made in all sincerity. These factors include especially, but are not limited to, extreme suggestion and bias in the lineup, the lineup situation, and lineup instructions; very sketchy descriptions of the perpetrator, and a lengthy interval between the alleged crime and the memory report (including the identification) that would promote considerable forgetting. I believe that a conviction based on the eyewitness evidence alone was absolutely not called for.”
Background
Two weeks after the night of May 9, 1977, two 14-year-old twin white girls and their 18-year- old cousin were visiting with relatives and mentioned nothing about being raped and kidnapped until one of the relatives noticed a scratch on the man’s neck. Things immediately changed and Laborde told them a concocted story about being assaulted by an unknown Black man. The relatives, skeptical that they were telling them the whole story, advised them to go to the police.
Eventually, the Sanders twins and Laborde did go to the police. At the police station, they could not provide many details other than a Black man attacked them. While there were no corroborating witnesses and no evidence at all of a rape and kidnapping, it did not stop the police from picking up a young Black man from town and taking him into the station. Essentially, this man, Vincent Simmons, was kidnapped off the street. Unable to truly understand the charges against him, as he had only sixth grade education, the police denied him an attorney and the ability to make a call. He was then placed in a line up with a few other men, but there was only one man in the lineup that day who was handcuffed and placed in restraints – Vincent Simmons. The twins and their cousin identified the man with the handcuffs and shortly thereafter in the stationhouse Simmons was shot point blank in his chest.
There was little if any investigation conducted by the police and the investigators in this case failed to conduct any search in the car even after it became evident that no evidence of a rape existed on Little California Road. The police destroyed any evidence that may have been in that vehicle when they did not secure it.
Surviving the shooting, and facing the death penalty, less than sixty days after his arrest, Simmons was put on trial and he was convicted in a trial lasting only two days. He was sentenced 100 years in prison.
Dr. Lisa Lindquist Dorr, PhD, and an expert who reviewed this case, said: “Vincent Simmons was convicted by a legal process that closely paralleled the prosecutions of scores of black men accused of crimes by white women. Police conducted no investigation to speak of. Simmons has insisted there were efforts by police to coerce him to confess. One complaining witness told police that her uncle was very upset and talked about taking the law into his own hands. The other referred to black men as Niggers and told police that all blacks looked the same to her. The trial was held 51 days after the crime, and defense counsel had very little time to prepare his case. Simmons was convicted by a jury composed of 11 whites and 1 African American, and received an extremely severe sentence. His trial, for all practical purposes, was a legal lynching.”
Nearly 44 years later, with both newly discovered evidence and evidence that was withheld from him at the original trial, Vincent Simmons remains in Angola State Penitentiary. This is arguably his last chance at freedom in a new motion to overturn his conviction that was filed today in the 12th Judicial District of the State of Louisiana, town of Marksville. With new evidence of his innocence, including the medical report that was hidden from the defense that found that the girls were not raped, expert reports on witness misidentification and new evidence showing that the girls and their cousin had lied, attorneys are seeking to finally have justice and are asking the court to overturn the conviction and free Vincent Simmons.
Lonnie Soury, founder of Families of the Wrongfully Convicted, said, “How many Black men have been lynched or spent their lives imprisoned based upon false accusations similar to the tragedy that befell Vincent Simmons. It was not simply the false accusations of rape by two white girls, but deep-rooted racism that permeated the criminal justice system in Louisiana in 1977, and unfortunately continues today throughout our country. Simmons is innocent and must be finally freed.”
Attorneys Jonathan Edelstein and Robert Grossman are of counsel and assisted in this case. Edward Lavardain Jr. is co-counsel. Reverend Allen Holmes, civil rights leader has been fighting to free Vincent Simmons.