The Innocence Institute of Point Park University
An investigative reporting organization that probes allegations of wrongful convictions.
Ernest Simmons’s life has been a tale of gritty survival. Now those instincts to protect what he has landed him back in jail. Simmons, released from prison after serving 18 years on death row, was living in a halfway house. He perceived that another resident was pursuing his girlfriend and while sitting through dialysis treatment stated that he wanted to assault his rival. Updated …
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By Marie DoRego
inn_inst[at]pointpark[dot]edu
March 14, 2011
Ernest Simmons, who was freed in May 2010 after spending 18 years on death row for the 1992 slaying of an elderly Johnstown, Pa. woman, is imprisoned again for threatening to dismember a man who slept with his girlfriend in the halfway house where he resided.
A Cambria County judge decided that Simmons' threats -- he allegedly said …
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FlAGalleryErnest Simmons is accused of threatening to kill a halfway house acquaintance and feed him to barnyard pigs
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By Marie DoRego
inn_inst[at]pointpark[dot]edu
February 14, 2011
Less than a year after Ernest Simmons was freed from nearly two decades on death row in the brutal murder of an elderly Johnstown, Pa. woman, he is back in jail, this time for threatening to …
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Former Death Row Inmate Free From Prison, But Still Confined
By Marie DoRego and Rob Cathers
inn_inst [at] pointpark [dot] edu
BROCKWAY, Pa. -- Released after 18 years on death row, Ernie Simmons, 53, wanted to get a …
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by Justin Platek with additional reporting by Rob Cathers, Brooke Keane and Bill Moushey
Ernest "Ernie" Simmons is used to counting down. He counted down the days until his execution, first in November 1995 and again between March and April 1996, both of which were stayed last minute. Now, nearly 17 years after being convicted of murder and robbery, Ernie Simmons is counting down again. This …
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The two-part story is available at wearecentralpa.com in two segments, here and here.
Our latest story about Ernie Simmons is here.
The full text of the WTAJ report by Angie Koehle can be found below.
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Did Justice Fail?
The Ernie Simmons Story: How does a man go from death row to freedom without being exonerated of the murder he's convicted of?
By Angie Koehle
JOHNSTOWN, …
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Ernie Simmons pleaded no contest (refused to admit guilt) to third degree murder last week and was given a time served sentence. He'll be released as soon as he fills out parole paperwork and appears before the board.
For more on this story, see the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's coverage, which mentions the work of Innocence Institute reporters in Simmons' case:
"...an investigation by student …
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May 2005
By Bill Moushey and Nathan Crabbe
ERIE – A federal judge has stayed the appeal of death row inmate Ernest
Simmons until a Cambria County court considers whether a witness lied on the
stand when she implicated him in the brutal slaying of an elderly Johnstown
woman.
Now Simmons’ attorneys must decide whether to pursue a lengthy legal battle
over the witness’ testimony or …
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Businessman Imprisoned As Government Hid Evidence Showing Innocence
By Bill Moushey
James Faller claimed innocence in a complicated loan fraud from the time he reported it to Florida regulators more than 10 years ago, when he tried to explain it to an FBI Agent, when he was indicted, tried, convicted and sentenced to prison.
Along the way he infuriated federal prosecutors by making hundreds …
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Star witness admits she lied
November 2004
By Nathan Crabbe and Jamie Keaney
He seemed like a logical suspect. After all, Ernest Simmons had spent most of his adult life behind bars and his last prison stretch was for beating and robbing two elderly men.
So in May 1992, when 80-year-old Anna Knaze was found robbed and brutally murdered in her Johnstown home, suspicion quickly focused on …
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