Man serving 100 years for attempted rape prepares to head back to court in Avoyelles

Vincent Simmons, the Mansura man serving 100 years in Angola for the attempted aggravated rape of twin girls in Avoyelles Parish back in the 1970s, will head back to the Avoyelles Parish courthouse on October 2 in an effort to have his name cleared and be released.

Robert Hjortsberg, the attorney for Simmons, has filed a response to the state's opposition of his effort to introduce new evidence in his case which could prove his innocence.

A witness named Pamela Jones claims to have seen Simmons the day he was alleged to have tried to rape the girls, providing him with an alibi. Hjortsberg said that Jones made the state aware of that information, but they never told the defense at the time.

The state argues that Simmons' post-conviction application has passed timeframe deadlines. But, Hjortsberg disagrees.

"The state is arguing as they would in any case of this nature that this post-conviction application has prescribed, meaning he has run out of time to file it," he said. "There are some exceptions to allow him to file this motion for post-conviction application after he has already filed previous ones and after the boil, plate time limitations have run. We are arguing that his case fits within one of those exceptions and of course the state is arguing that it does not fit within one of those exceptions."

If the case moves forward will ultimately be decided on October 2. If things don't go in Simmons' favor, his attorney tells us he plans to appeal.

We have attached the court document Hjortsberg filed in this article.