Oklahoma man Glynn Simmons has been formally declared innocent of a murder he was judged to have committed in December 1974. The 71-year-old was convicted of the murder of Carolyn Sue Rogers, who died after being shot during a robbery at a liquor store. Simmons spent 48 years on death row, per the National Registry of Exonerations, before Judge Amy Palumbo formally declared his innocence. "This court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the offense for which Mr. Simmons was convicted, sentenced and imprisoned in the case at hand, including any lesser included offenses, was not committed by Mr. Simmons," said Palumbo. Simmons maintained his innocence throughout his sentence and said, “this is the day we’ve been waiting for for a long time. Finally, I’m happy." "He had had 50 years stolen from him - the prime of his work life when he could have been having experiences and developing skills. That was taken from him, by no fault of his own, by other people," said Simmons’ Attorney, Joe Norwood. It was found that prosecutors violated Simmons’ right to a fair trial by not disclosing a police lineup report to his trial lawyer. Attorney Vicki Behenna was reluctant to describe his case as “exonerated” as the state couldn’t prove his guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt." Simmons’ latest attorneys said this was “powerful innocence evidence” as it showed the eyewitness did not identify Simmons. They added that the “actual innocence” claim was a necessary first step in Simmons’ bid to pursue monetary compensation from the state.