Global Courant 2023-04-20 22:40:09
An Oklahoma appeals court on Thursday upheld the murder conviction of death row inmate Richard Glossip, paving the way for Glossip’s May 18 execution despite the attorney general’s concerns about some testimony and evidence.
Glossip can still plead his case for clemency with the five-member Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, which could recommend that the governor spare Glossip’s life by commuting his sentence to life in prison without parole.
Glossip, now 60, has long maintained his innocence in the 1997 murder-for-hire of his former boss, Barry Van Treese, who owned the Best Budget Inn where Glossip worked as a manager. The motel’s handyman Justin Sneed admitted to robbing and beating Van Treese to death with a baseball bat, but claims he did so only after Glossip promised to pay him $10,000 to do it.
Sneed, who ended up serving life in prison, was the key witness in two separate murder trials for Glossip, both of which ended in conviction and the death penalty.
Earlier this month, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond urged the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to quash Glossip’s conviction, saying Sneed lied to the jury about his mental health and drug use. Drummond said in his filing that Sneed’s inaccurate statements, combined with other issues in the case, including the destruction of evidence, warrant a new trial.
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An Oklahoma court on Thursday upheld the murder conviction of death row inmate Richard Glossip.
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“This is not to say that I believe (Glossip) is innocent,” Drummond said in a statement at the time. “Given everything I know about this case, I don’t believe justice has been served by executing a man based on the testimony of a compromised witness.”
Glossip has previously been scheduled for execution, and three separate counts came within hours of his being put to death.
One of his planned executions was halted in September 2015 when prison officials realized they had been given the wrong lethal drug, a mix-up that led to a nearly seven-year moratorium on the death penalty in Oklahoma.
Glossip’s case attracted international attention after actress Susan Sarandon — who won an Academy Award for her portrayal of death penalty opponent Sister Helen Prejean in the 1995 film “Dead Man Walking” — took up his case in real life. Prejean himself has served as Glossip’s spiritual advisor and has visited him frequently in prison. His case was also featured in the 2017 documentary “Killing Richard Glossip”.
