#231 Jason Flom with Vincent Simmons

Wrongful Conviction

Lava for Good Podcasts

True Crime

4.6 • 5.7K Ratings

🗓️ 10 November 2021

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In early May of 1977, Keith Laborde and his 14 year old twin cousins, Karen and Sharon Sanders, allegedly picked up a hitchhiking black man at a gas station in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. About 2 weeks later, when asked about a scratch on his neck, Keith Laborde and the twins told a story about this armed hitchhiker who allegedly forced Laborde into the trunk and raped both girls. Despite not matching the description, a man with a few petty priors, Vincent Simmons, was arrested, put into a suggestive line up, and ultimately selected. When he refused to confess, police officer Robert Laborde shot him in the chest. Vincent survived, but only to have ALL discovery withheld by the state, including the medical examination that proved that Sharon Sander's could not have been raped. Years later, according to the alleged victims' family members, the whole story appears to have been a cover for recurring incestuous victimization, yet Vincent remains in Angola penitentiary to this day. To learn more and get involved: https://gogetfunding.com/legalfundvincent/ https://www.change.org/p/vincent-simmons-is-innocent-and-has-been-imprisoned-in-louisiana-since-1977 https://wrongfullyconvicted.info/vincent-simmons/ The Farm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odx9NEHc17M Shadows of Doubt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98lCNnEnxno https://lavaforgood.com/with-jason-flom Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1.

Transcript

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0:00.0	In May of 1977, 14-year-old white twin sisters Karen and Sharon Sanders allegedly went
0:09.6	to help their 18-year-old cousin Keith LaBord clean his house in a vol's parish, Louisiana.
0:16.1	Years later, Keith LaBord admitted to carrying on a sexual relationship with Karen Sanders,
0:20.9	but back in May of 1977, when asked about a scratch on his neck, Keith began to spin
0:26.2	an narrative supported by the twin girls that led in a well-tread direction.
0:31.8	According to Keith and the twins, they picked up a hitchhiking black man who allegedly pulled
0:36.5	a gun and forced Keith and Karen into the trunk before raping Sharon, followed by Karen.
0:42.3	Conflicting accounts and descriptions as well as a rape kit that confirmed that Sharon
0:46.4	was still a virgin, didn't stop the accusation of an alleged black assailant.
0:51.8	While police officer Robert LaBord was out searching for a potential culprit on the
0:55.7	morning of May 23rd, 1977, his partner Floyd Juno spotted Vincent Simmons, whom he knew
1:01.6	from previous petty crimes. Despite not matching what were already conflicting descriptions
1:06.7	of this imaginary black man, they arrested Vincent for the alleged rapes.
1:11.5	Both girls and Keith picked out the only handcuffed black man in the lineup, and when
1:15.9	Vincent refused to confess, officer Robert LaBord shot him in the chest.
1:20.6	Miraculously, Vincent survived, but only to have all evidence of all of its culpatory
1:25.6	withheld from him at trial, condemning him to serve 100 years in a gold prison.
1:31.8	Vincent's fight against a web of family connections, lies, and the worst in American racism continues
1:37.4	to this very day.
1:39.4	This is Ronfell Conviction.
1:54.2	Welcome back to Ronfell Conviction. I'm Jason Flop.
1:57.6	Today's case is so troubling that I don't know where to start, but I will tell you this
	...

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