Oklahoma appeals court denies motion to vacate in death penalty case

(The Center Square) – The Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals denied a motion from Attorney General Gentner Drummond to vacate the conviction of a man who has sat on death row for 25 years.

The court also denied a stay of execution for Richard Glossip, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection on May 18.

Glossip’s execution date has been moved eight times. The Criminal Court of Appeals moved the date from February 16 to May 18 in a January order.

Glossip was convicted in connection with the 1997 murder of his boss, Barry Van Treese, as previously reported. A co-worker confessed to the murder and received a plea agreement to avoid the death penalty. Glossip, accused of being an accessory to the murder, was sentenced to death in 1998. He was retried and convicted again in 2004. He received the death penalty after the second trial.

Drummond filed a motion with the appeals court last month to vacate the conviction and send it back to district court after discovering a box of evidence not turned over to Glossip’s defense attorneys. The district attorney questioned the truthfulness of Justin Sneed, who received a life sentence without the possibility of parole for his testimony against Glossip. Sneed said he was prescribed lithium for a cold, but it was for a psychiatric condition, the attorney general said in his motion.

The Criminal Court of Appeals said in its 25-page ruling the motion that the evidence did not show that Glossip was “factually innocent.”

Drummond said the ruling was not the end.

“While I respect the Court of Criminal Appeals’ opinion, I am not willing to allow an execution to proceed despite so many doubts,” Drummond said. “Ensuring the integrity of the death penalty demands complete certainty. I will thoroughly review the ruling and consider what steps should be taken to ensure justice.”

Glossip’s defense attorney Don Knight said he would file a motion with the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Since the State now agrees that the only witness to allege that Mr. Glossip was involved in this crime cannot be believed, it is unconscionable for the court to attempt to force the State to move forward with his execution,” Knight said in a statement.

According to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Glossip is one of seven men scheduled for execution between this May and June 2024.