Probation, shock time deal offered to Simmons

Cory Simmons has less than 48 hours to mull over a plea bargain deal which would place him on probation for five years, but require him to spend 120 days behind bars, according to a source close to the Newton County Prosecuting Attorney's office.
Otherwise, the trial for Simmons, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the Feb. 11 traffic accident that took the life of his passenger, Joplin High School student-athlete Christina Freeman, is scheduled to start Tuesday morning in McDonald County Circuit Court, where it is being held on a change of venue. The manslaughter charge was filed after Joplin Police officers said Simmons was driving while intoxicated.
Under the terms of the plea offer, which reportedly has the approval of Miss Freeman's family, Simmons, 18, would be sentenced to seven years in prison, then placed on five years of supervised probation, with the 120-day shock time. When he is released, he would be required to make $150 monthly payments to the Christina Freeman scholarship fund.
If Simmons does not accept the deal by the time jury selection begins Tuesday morning, the source said, Prosecuting Attorney Scott Watson will seek the maximum seven years in prison.