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Supreme Court Blocks Richard Glossip’s Execution

Richard Glossip has steadfastly denied his guilt. Photo: Oklahoma Department of Corrections/Associated Press By Jess Bravin Updated May 5, 2023 3:54 pm ET WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court temporarily blocked the execution of Oklahoma inmate Richard Glossip, whose conviction for a 1997 murder has been repudiated by the state attorney general for trial and investigatory errors that cast doubt on his guilt.  Mr. Glossip, 60 years old, had been scheduled to die May 18 for hiring a handyman to kill Barry Van Treese, the owner of the motel Mr. Glossip managed in Oklahoma City. Mr. Glossip has steadfastly denied his guilt, and his conviction rested almost entirely on the testimony of Justin Sneed, the handyman who admitted to beating Mr. Van

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Supreme Court Blocks Richard Glossip’s Execution

Richard Glossip has steadfastly denied his guilt.

Photo: Oklahoma Department of Corrections/Associated Press

WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court temporarily blocked the execution of Oklahoma inmate Richard Glossip, whose conviction for a 1997 murder has been repudiated by the state attorney general for trial and investigatory errors that cast doubt on his guilt. 

Mr. Glossip, 60 years old, had been scheduled to die May 18 for hiring a handyman to kill Barry Van Treese, the owner of the motel Mr. Glossip managed in Oklahoma City. Mr. Glossip has steadfastly denied his guilt, and his conviction rested almost entirely on the testimony of Justin Sneed, the handyman who admitted to beating Mr. Van Treese to death with a baseball bat. 

In a plea deal, prosecutors offered Mr. Sneed a life sentence in exchange for implicating Mr. Glossip at his capital trial. A pro bono attorney, Donald Knight, has dedicated years to clearing Mr. Glossip’s name, saying he deserved a new trial in light of inconsistencies in Mr. Sneed’s testimony, slipshod police work and questionable actions by prosecutors who may have withheld or lost exculpatory evidence.

“We are very grateful to the U.S. Supreme Court for doing the right thing in stopping Richard Glossip’s unlawful execution,” Mr. Knight said. “There is nothing more harrowing than the thought of executing a man who the state now admits has never received a fair trial. Thankfully, for the time being, Mr. Glossip is out of peril.”

Mr. Knight’s campaign received support not only from death-penalty opponents such as Sister Helen Prejean, but also dozens of officials in Oklahoma, which has one of the nation’s most active death chambers. Republican lawmakers, expressing concern that the execution of a potentially innocent inmate would undermine support for the death penalty, commissioned an independent investigation of the Glossip case that substantiated many of Mr. Knight’s assertions. 

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond ordered his own investigation of the case and concluded earlier this year that the conviction shouldn’t stand. 

In April, however, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals rejected Mr. Drummond’s motion to set aside Mr. Glossip’s conviction, concluding that many of the claims had been rejected previously. The state Pardon and Parole Board subsequently rejected Mr. Glossip’s plea for clemency by a 2-2 vote.

Mr. Glossip appealed to the Supreme Court, whose Friday order prevents the execution until the justices decide whether to hear his case, and if so, their ultimate decision. Mr. Drummond supported Mr. Glossip’s request.

Justice Neil Gorsuch,

Mr. Glossip has been hours away from execution several times since arriving on death row, with his life spared because of problems with the Oklahoma lethal injection protocol. 

Mr. Glossip’s name already appears in Supreme Court precedent. In 2015, the court rejected, by a 5-4 vote, his claim that lethal injections using the sedative midazolam bore an unconstitutional risk of inflicting excruciating pain upon the condemned. That case involved only execution methods, not whether Mr. Glossip’s conviction should be overturned.

Write to Jess Bravin at [email protected]

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