TULSA, Okla — A public forum to educate the public on the death row case of Richard Glossip was held Sunday evening with dozens coming to show support.
Richard Glossip has been on death row for nearly two decades for the alleged murder-for-hire plot to kill an Oklahoma City motel owner, Barry Van Treese, in 1997.
Now Glossip has a team behind him advocating for his release.
One of the main takeaways from Sunday's forum is many believe Richard Glossip is an innocent man, wrongfully imprisoned by the State of Oklahoma.
Kevin McDugle, State Representative for District 12, told 2 News, “Today, we were actually able to tell the congregation some of the things that are wrong. Such as, there’s an entire box of evidence that the state has destroyed and nobody has been held accountable for it."
For three years, McDugle has advocated for the release of Glossip.
He said if Glossip were to get another trial now, he would not be found guilty.
“When this came across my desk I knew that if I didn’t fight for it once I saw that he was innocent, nobody else was going to. And so the weight of that weighed on me and I knew if I didn’t take action, that no one else is going to step in and he’d be put to death," McDugle said.
Herman Lindsey is another believer in Glossip's innocence and is all too familiar with the limbo Glossip is currently stuck in.
Lindsey was exonerated and saved from death row in Florida.
“With the death penalty being intact, there’s no guarantee you won’t kill an innocent person. So, we at Witness to Innocence, we try to make sure we support everyone we can because we know how it feels to be on death row for something we didn’t do," Lindsey said.
The forum was held at the Boston Avenue First United Methodist Church where Glossip is a member. The church was filled with dozens of people who say they want Glossip exonerated of all charges.
Representative McDugle said this decision will set a precedence in the State of Oklahoma.
“If Richard Glossip is put to death and I’ve sworn and I will continue to stick to it, I will fight against the death penalty in the state of Oklahoma, we’ll have to shut it down because we’ve executed an innocent man, how can you continue at that point," McDugle said.
While Governor Kevin Stitt issued a 60-day stay for the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to review the case, Attorney General John O'Connor said in a statement that multiple courts have reviewed the Glossip case and each found him guilty.
O'Connor also said he hopes the Court of Appeals renders a decision that complies with Oklahoma law.
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