Supreme Court to hear death row inmate Richard Glossip's case

“We are grateful that the Court is providing Richard Glossip the opportunity to argue that Oklahoma should not be permitted to kill him. We are also grateful that the State’s chief law enforcement officer, Attorney General Gentner Drummond, agrees that Mr. Glossip did not receive a fair trial and his conviction must be reversed.

Mr. Glossip has faced execution nine times, even though the State knew full well that the evidence used to convict him and sentence him to death was false. It took almost 25 years for the State to disclose that the undisputed killer and the prosecution’s star witness, Justin Sneed, was lying and that it did not correct his falsehoods for the jury. The State now agrees this failure, and the cumulative effect of other errors in the case, require a new trial for Mr. Glossip.

Mr. Glossip is innocent of the murder for which he faces execution. He has no criminal history, no history of misconduct during his entire time in prison, and has maintained his innocence throughout a quarter century wrongfully on death row. It is time – past time – for his nightmare to be over. The Court should reverse the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, which has inexplicably refused to accept the State’s confession of error.”
-- John Mills, attorney for Richard Glossip

“Richard Glossip’s innocence case is unlike anything the country has ever seen. The Oklahoma Attorney General’s concession of error is historically unprecedented, as is the outpouring of support from 62 Oklahoma legislators, including at least 45 death penalty supporting Republican lawmakers. Two independent investigations cast grave doubts on the reliability of Mr. Glossip’s conviction. We are gratified that the United States Supreme Court has agreed that it is worthy of full consideration and look forward to our chance to help the Justices understand why it is critical that Mr. Glossip finally be given his chance at a fair trial.”

-- Don Knight, attorney for Richard Glossip

“Public confidence in the death penalty requires the highest standard of reliability, so it is appropriate that the U.S. Supreme Court will review this case,” Drummond said. “As Oklahoma’s chief law officer, I will continue fighting to ensure justice is done in this case and every other.”


Despite the State’s extraordinary admission of error in Glossip’s trial, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals rejected the death row inmate’s application last April for post-conviction relief. That ruling prompted Glossip’s request for the Supreme Court to take up his case. The court granted him a temporary stay of execution in May.



Glossip was initially charged with accessory to murder on Jan. 15, 1997, after the murder of his boss, Van Treese. A co-worker of Glossip’s confessed to beating Van Treese to death in an Oklahoma City motel room. As part of a plea agreement to avoid the death penalty, the co-worker testified that Glossip offered to pay him for the killing.



As a result, Glossip was charged and eventually convicted of first-degree murder in 1998. The co-worker, who was the prosecution’s star witness, was convicted and received a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.



The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals later overturned Glossip’s conviction for ineffective assistance of counsel, but he was again convicted and sentenced to death at a 2004 retrial.



With the case long mired in controversy, Drummond began seeking answers shortly after taking office. He quickly learned that the State had withheld specific materials from Glossip’s defense team. The Attorney General quickly provided access to these items, referred to as “Box 8,” and appointed an independent counsel to conduct a thorough review of the case.



Evidence in Box 8 led to the revelation in January that Glossip’s co-worker – the prosecution’s star witness – had been allowed to give false testimony that failed to disclose he had been prescribed lithium by a psychiatrist for a serious psychiatric condition."


— AG Gentner Drummond