Beth Shelburn, a reporter for Birmingham, AL Fox station WBRC, has drawn massive online attention in the last two days to the story of an Alabama man who spent most of his life in prison after being sentenced for his theft of $9.
Shelburn published an extensive Twitter thread of her conversation with Willie Simmons, an inmate of the Holman Correctional Facility who was sentenced to life in prison for wrestling a man to the ground and stealing his wallet containing $9. Shelburn explained that Simmons was prosecuted as habitual offender in 1982 because he was previously convicted for grand larceny and receiving stolen property. He’s spent the past 38 years behind bars.
Simmons told Shelburn he was on drugs when the $9 theft happened, and that he “was using hard drugs when he committed his crimes.”
“I was just trying to get me a quick fix, Simmons said. “It was all stupid. I was messed up.”
Simmons says he sobered up in prison and is currently trying to stay away from “the wild bunch” while he works on obtaining his GED. Simmons said he sees people at his prison doing drugs all the time, but remains clean and “I’d like to tell people about how bad drugs are” once he’s released.
Even though Shelburn said Simmons hasn’t received a disciplinary citation in a decade, the two of them presented a lamentable series of events from the legal process behind Simmons’ incarceration.
Simmons said his robbery trial lasted 25 minutes and his appointed attorney called no witnesses at the time. “Prosecutors did not offer him a plea deal, even though all of his prior offenses were nonviolent,” Shelburn wrote. “They kept saying we’ll do our best to keep you off the streets for good.”
Shelburn reported that Simmons repeatedly appealed his case, but was denied each time, and state lawmakers altered the Habitual Offender Law in 2014 so now it’s impossible for him to try again.
Shelburn concluded by arguing that it’s unfair Simmons has been imprisoned for so long, that he deserves another chance after all these years, and that the Habitual Offenders Law “needs to go.”
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