Hearing in Vincent Simmons appeal rescheduled

A hearing in Vincent Simmons' 40-year appeal of his conviction for raping two 14-year-old twin sisters was canceled today after Angola State Penitentiary failed to transport Simmons to the Avoyelles Parish Courthouse in Marksville for the court action.

The motion to recuse 12th Judicial District Judge Kerry Spruill from the case will be heard at 11 a.m. Nov. 8. New Orleans Attorney Robert "Bobby" Hjortsberg, who is now handling Simmons' appeal, said he believes Spruill should not be assigned to hear motions in the case due to his connections with the current District Attorney's Office and with former D.A. Eddie Knoll, who prosecuted Simmons in 1977.

Simmons was identified by two girls who said he brutally raped both of them and threatened to kill them if they reported it. A few weeks later, they came forward and reported the incident. In the initial statement, one of the girls said she could not give a detailed description of her attacker because "all blacks look alike." Simmons was arrested the next day.

After he was picked out of a line up, he was shot and critically wounded after he reportedly grabbed a deputy's pistol during the booking process. He was charged with two counts of attempted aggravated rape, rather than aggravated rape. He was convicted and sentenced to 100 years in prison in less than two months after his arrest.

Hjortsberg said once the motion to recuse Spruill is decided, he will ask the judge -- Spruill or the judge assigned to replace him -- to grant an evidentiary hearing to allow the testimony of a witness whose statement was never allowed into evidence. That witness reportedly told prosecutors that she saw Simmons at a bar all night the night the rapes were reported to have occurred.

"This is not a loss," Hjortsberg said after leaving the courthouse, adding that he is confident the new motions filed in the case "will result in Vincent's freedom."