Bennett to review motion to recuse Spruill as judge in Simmons appeal

For almost 44 years, the case of Vincent Simmons has periodically surfaced with claims of racism and injustice and counter-claims that justice -- even in 1977 rural Louisiana -- was and still is colorblind.

   On Tuesday (April 20), 12th Judicial District Judge William Bennett took under review a motion by Simmons' attorney to recuse Judge Kerry Spruill from any involvement in Simmons' latest appeal of his 100-year prison sentence on two counts of attempted aggravated rape of two 14-year-oid twins in May 1977.

  Attorney Justin Bonus also has a motion to recuse District Attorney Charles Riddle from participating as a prosecutor in the appeal because he believes Riddle could be a material witness in Simmons' case.

   The motion to recuse Riddle was not addressed in Tuesday's hearing.    If Bennett agrees with Bonus' argument, then Bennett will replace Spruill as the presiding judge for the appeal. Bennett would then hold a hearing on whether Riddle should also be removed from the appeals process.    If Bennett finds there is no legal reason why Spruill cannot proceed to hear the appeal, then Spruill would preside over a hearing on recusing Riddle.

   After those more technical matters are addressed, the question will then be whether an evidentiary hearing will be held on what Bonus says is new evidence, including recent statements from previously uninterviewed witnesses.

   In a prepared press release prior to the hearing, Simmons' appeals team said Riddle is a material witness who has opposed allowing a hearing to overturn Simmons' "wrongful conviction" despite "all the new evidence that a great injustice has taken place."

   Riddle has said in the past, and said again after the April 20 hearing, that everything being presented in this appeal has been presented, heard and rejected in past appeals in state and federal courts.

   When another attempted appeal was presented a few years ago by a different attorney, Riddle -- who was not the district attorney nor involved in the case in 1977 -- adamantly said Simmons "was guilty then and he's guilty now."

   Simmons' attorneys said Riddle told them on Oct. 20, 2020 that Simmons did not receive a fair trial and his trial attorneys did not receive all of the documents the prosecution had in evidence.

   Riddle said after the April 20 hearing that he "never told them Simmons did not receive a fair trial. I, personally, cannot say whether Simmons' attorneys received all of the evidence because I was in law school at the time. I can say that this issue has been brought up numerous times before" and courts have found no merit in the argument.

BACKGROUND

   In early May 1977, two 14-year-old twin white girls and their 18-year-old male cousin said they were abducted by a lone black man who raped both of the girls while the cousin was tied up in the trunk.

   They told relatives about the incident two weeks later and subsequently filed a report with the police. The victims initially could not provide many details of their assailant.

   Police picked up Vincent Simmons and put him in a lineup. There is a disagreement as to whether Simmons was in handcuffs during the lineup. A photo taken of those in the lineup shows him in handcuffs.

  Those on the prosecution side of the aisle say Simmons had already caused trouble earlier and he was immediately put in cuffs after he was identified but before a photo was taken of the individuals in the lineup.

   Shortly after that, Simmons reportedly grabbed a deputy's gun and was shot in the chest. He was rushed to the hospital and survived. Less than 60 days later, he was tried, convicted and sentenced to 100 years in prison.

   Just prior to trial, the charges of aggravated rape were reduced to attempted aggravated rape, which carried a maximum penalty of 50 years each. The judge handed down the maximum sentence and ordered the sentences be served consecutively -- one after the other -- instead of concurrently -- at the same time.

   Such speed from crime to arrest to trial in about two months would be unusual in today's court process, where even relatively minor cases may take a year before getting a court date and be delayed further with procedural motion before coming to trial.

    Simmons' appeals attorneys contend there are new witnesses who have provided sworn statements that there was no crime and that the victims made up the story of an attack by an unknown black man.

   The attorney says evidence from the coroner's report at the time, and corroborated recently by a forensic pathology expert, proves neither girl was assaulted or raped. This report by Dr. F.P. Bordelon has been brought up repeatedly in past appeals.

  Simmons was convicted by a unanimous verdict, but the lone black person on the jury has provided a sworn affidavit that she was scared and coerced by the 11 white men on the jury into voting to convict, and told that they didn't need her vote because 11 was enough to convict. The law has recently been changed to require a unanimous verdict in major felony cases.

  That juror said she would have voted to acquit had she known about the medical report and into a conviction, had she known of the medical reports. She said she believes Simmons is innocent.