Skip navigation
Criminal Legal News
The Habeas Citebook: Prosecutorial Misconduct - Header
× You have 2 more free articles available this month. Subscribe today.

Army Veteran Serving Life Without Parole for Taking $9

Loaded on June 15, 2020 by Douglas Ankney published in Criminal Legal News July, 2020, page 50
Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Veterans, Three Strikes Statutes/Rule. Location: Alabama.

by Douglas Ankney

Willie Simmons became addicted to drugs while in the Army and stationed abroad. In 1982, he was in Alabama and “in need of a quick fix.”

Simmons wrestled a man to the ground and took his wallet that contained nine dollars. Police arrested him a few blocks away. Simmons was charged with robbery. His trial lasted 25 minutes, and his court-appointed attorney called no witnesses. No plea deal was offered.

Because Simmons had three prior convictions — all nonviolent felonies — he was sentenced to life without parole under Alabama’s Habitual Offender Law. He was 25 years old.

Today he is studying for his GED at Holman, one of the most violent prisons in the U.S. There had been drugs all around him, but he still tries “to stay away from the wild bunch,” Beth Shelburne tweeted. Simmons got sober in prison 18 years ago.

“I just talked to God about it,” he said. Simmons’ sister died in 2005, and he hasn’t had a visitor since. “In a place like this, it can feel like you’re standing all alone,” he told WBRC-TV News, Birmingham. “Sometimes I feel like I’m lost in outer space.” 

 

Source: blackenterprise.com

As a digital subscriber to Criminal Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.

Subscribe today

Already a subscriber? Login

More from this issue:

  1. A Nation on the Brink, by Christopher Zoukis
  2. Office of Homeland Security Circumventing Warrant Requirement by Buying Cellphone Location Data from Marketing Firm, by Anthony Accurso
  3. From the Editor, by Richard Resch
  4. Using Location Surveillance to Fight COVID-19 May Chill Free Speech and Association, by David Reutter
  5. This Is Not a Revolution. It’s a Blueprint for Locking Down the Nation, by John W. Whitehead
  6. Fourth Circuit Expands Savings Clause of § 2255(e) to Include Later Retroactivity of New Rule, by Dale Chappell
  7. Seventh Circuit: Defendant’s Statement Given to Pretrial Services Can’t Be Admitted to Impeach Witness at Trial, by Douglas Ankney
  8. California Court of Appeal Explains Procedural Requirements for Vacating Felony-Murder Conviction Via Section 1170.95 Petition, by Douglas Ankney
  9. Police Violence Detrimental to Public Health, by Douglas Ankney
  10. Congressmen File Amicus Brief Stressing Congressional Intent That First Step Act’s New Drug Laws Apply at Resentencing, by Dale Chappell
  11. Indiana Supreme Court: Removal of Police’s GPS Tracker on Suspect’s Vehicle Not Probable Cause of Theft, Suppression of Evidence, by Anthony Accurso
  12. New Hampshire Supreme Court: Police Violated Miranda in Obtaining First Statement, and State Failed to Prove Second Statement Was Voluntary, by Douglas Ankney
  13. 5-Year Study Shows Police Stop Black Drivers Less Often at Night When ‘Veil of Darkness’ Obscures Race, by Douglas Ankney
  14. Declassified Court Ruling Details FBI Abuses of Mass Surveillance Data, by Anthony Accurso
  15. Second Circuit: Three Important Rulings Under First Step Act, by Dale Chappell
  16. Marijuana Possession in Virginia Remains Illegal But Is Decriminalized, by Douglas Ankney
  17. Eleventh Circuit Holds Hobbs Act Robbery Doesn’t Trigger Career Offender Enhancement, by Dale Chappell
  18. COVID-19 Creates Opportunity for Big Brother in the Sky, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
  19. Biden Accuser Accused of Inflating Credentials to Qualify as Expert Witness, Calling Convictions into Question, by Derek Gilna
  20. Perjurous New York City Cop Sentenced to a Single Day in Jail, by Edward Lyon
  21. Nebraska Supreme Court: Multiple Theft Charges for Stealing Items Belonging to Several People at Same Time and Place Violates Double Jeopardy, by Dale Chappell
  22. Fourth Circuit: Standalone Rehaif Error Requires Automatic Vacatur of Guilty Plea, by David Reutter
  23. Is the Death Penalty Slowly Dying Across the Nation?, by Chad Marks
  24. Joint State-Federal Task Forces Practice Rogue Justice Under Protection of Qualified Immunity, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
  25. Colorado Supreme Court: Requiring Defense to Disclose Exhibits to Prosecution Before Trial Violates Due Process Rights, by Dale Chappell
  26. Iowa Supreme Court Orders Dismissal of Charges that State Brought in Breach of Plea Agreement, by Douglas Ankney
  27. Justice Office Awards $145 Million in Forensic Science Grants, by Anthony Accurso
  28. Carpenter Slowly Remaking Fourth Amendment Case Law, by Anthony Accurso
  29. California Federal Court Rejects Plea Agreement’s Waiver of Compassionate Release Provision, by David Reutter
  30. Aggressive NYPD Police Tactics Spreading COVID-19, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
  31. COVID-19 Causing Some Pretrial Detainees to Spend More Time in Jail, by Douglas Ankney
  32. California Supreme Court Announces Sentencing Law Changes Apply Until Revocation Sentence Becomes Final, by Anthony Accurso
  33. NY Court of Appeals: Right to Review Suppression Decision When Decision Relates Solely to a Count Satisfied by Plea but Isn’t Count to Which Defendant Pled, by Douglas Ankney
  34. Report: Cops Ill-Equipped to Handle Mental Illness Crisis in Hospitals, by Edward Lyon
  35. Plenty of Practice Prevents Poor Police Performance, by Edward Lyon
  36. Fifth Circuit Clarifies How ‘Pronouncement Requirement’ Applies to Supervision Conditions, by Douglas Ankney
  37. First Circuit: Sentence Imposed Under 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(c) Is ‘Covered Offense’ Under § 404 of First Step Act, by Douglas Ankney
  38. Minnesota Supreme Court: Hotel Guests Have Reasonable Expectation of Privacy in Registry Information, by Douglas Ankney
  39. Sixth Circuit: Courts May Consider Good Prison Conduct in Sentence Reduction Under First Step Act, by Dale Chappell
  40. DNA Database of NYC’s Chief Medical Examiner Plagued with Errors, by Douglas Ankney
  41. South Carolina Supreme Court Rejects U.S. Supreme Court’s Shifting of Burden to Defendant to Prove Absence of Exigent Circumstances in DUI Cases, by Douglas Ankney
  42. Pennsylvania Supreme Court: Expired Vehicle Registration Isn’t ‘Breach of the Peace’ Justifying Traffic Stop, by Douglas Ankney
  43. Report: Risk Assessment Tools not Effective, Especially When not Used, by Kevin Bliss
  44. Sixth Circuit: District Court’s Refusal to Reduce Crack Sentence Under First Step Act Requires Justification, by Dale Chappell
  45. Florida Supreme Court Abandons Circumstantial Evidence Review Standard, by David Reutter
  46. Courts Oppose Prosecutors’ Attempts to Right Past Wrongs, by Douglas Ankney
  47. No Trust Between Police and Communities They Patrol, by Kevin Bliss
  48. COVID-19 May Ring in a New Era of High-Tech Private Policing, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
  49. North Carolina Supreme Court: Giving Finger to Police Not Disorderly Conduct Justifying Traffic Stop, by Dale Chappell
  50. New Technique Separates Mixed DNA Evidence to Tell Suspects from Victims, by Dale Chappell
  51. Feds Ramp up Purchase of Riot Gear in Wake of COVID-19 Pandemic, by Douglas Ankney
  52. Army Veteran Serving Life Without Parole for Taking $9, by Douglas Ankney
  53. Sixth Circuit Vacates Firearms Possession Conviction; Government Showed Jury Unauthenticated Prejudicial Facebook Video Not Admitted as Evidence, by Matthew Clarke
  54. News in Brief

More from Douglas Ankney:

More from these topics:

 

 

Prisoner Education Guide side
CLN Subscribe Now Ad
Federal Prison Handbook - Side