Supreme Court will hear appeals of death row inmate Richard Glossip

The Supreme Court will hear the appeals of Richard Glossip, a death row inmate whose execution was blocked by the high court in May following intense scrutiny over whether he received a fair trial. 

Glossip has been in prison for almost 25 years after being convicted of paying another man, Justin Sneed, to commit the 1997 murder of an Oklahoma City motel owner, Barry Van Treese. It is not in dispute that Sneed killed Van Treese.

The basis for Glossip’s petition to the high court is that Sneed — the “indispensable witness” in Glossip’s 2004 trial — was not credible. Glossip’s attorneys say in the petition that Sneed lied about drug abuse and a psychiatric condition that rendered him “potentially violent” — and that prosecutors knew he lied, not correcting it with the jury.  

However, in April, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Glossip’s conviction and the state’s Pardon and Parole Board rejected his request for clemency. An execution date was set for May 18.

In an unusual move, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond (R) wrote a brief in support of overturning Glossip’s death sentence after the state reached the conclusion Glossip’s trial was “unfair and unreliable.” He called the appeals court’s decision “wrong on the facts and wrong on the law,” suggesting it “cries out for correction.”

“While the State previously opposed relief for Glossip, it has concluded, based on careful review of new information that recently came to light relating to prosecutorial misconduct at Glossip’s trial and cumulative error, that Glossip’s conviction and capital sentence cannot stand,” Drummond wrote in court filings.

Drummond has said he does not believe Glossip is innocent, but he did not receive a fair trial and should receive a new one. The Supreme Court issued a stay on Glossip’s execution on May 5.

Glossip has narrowly escaped execution multiple times, notably in 2015 after prison officials realized they had the wrong lethal drug for his injection.

John Mills and Don Knight, Glossip’s attorneys, said in separate statements that the death row inmate is innocent of the charges he faces and should be allowed a new trial.

“Mr. Glossip is innocent of the murder for which he faces execution,” Mills said, asserting that Glossip had no previous criminal history, no history of misconduct in prison and has maintained his innocence. “It is time — past time — for his nightmare to be over.”

Updated at 10:24 a.m.