Glossip attorneys ask SCOTUS for execution stay

Derrick James, McAlester News-Capital, Okla.
·2 min read
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Apr. 27—Attorneys for death row inmate Richard Glossip asked the nation's highest court to stay his upcoming May execution.

Glossip's attorneys filed the motion late Wednesday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his scheduled May execution after the Oklahoma State Pardon and Parole Board voted 2-2 to deny clemency.

"The state of Oklahoma does not oppose the application and has informed undersigned counsel of their intention to respond later this week," the motion states.

The board's vote came one week after the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals denied requests from Attorney General Gentner Drummond and Glossip's defense team for new hearings. The requests were prompted by two separate independent reviews alleging findings that cast doubt on the case.

Glossip is scheduled to be executed May 18 at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester for his conviction in the 1997 murder of Barry Van Treese. He was convicted twice of first-degree murder in the murder-for-hire plot that accused him of hiring Justin Sneed to kill Van Treese. Sneed is serving a life sentence for the murder after accepting a plea deal to testify against Glossip.

"Absent a stay of execution, not only will petitioner meet irreparable harm, the State of Oklahoma, too, will suffer grave harm from its Department of Corrections executing a person whom Oklahoma has concluded should never have been convicted of murder, let alone sentenced to die, in the first place," the motion states.

The results of both independent reviews focused on the testimony of Sneed and the withholding of key evidence in the case.

"The Independent Report concluded that the prosecution's withholding evidence, particularly the evidence concerning Sneed's mental health, undermined any hope the 'State can have confidence in the process and result,'" the motion states.

Both reviews also state Sneed wanted to recant his testimony in an attempt to get a better plea bargain.

"Mr. Glossip should not have been convicted of murder, a point the State now concedes," the motion filed Wednesday states. "His case has generated conflict and controversy, including at this Court. But he comes to this Court as an individual who, whatever his shortcomings and mistakes, has done nothing to justify his execution."

The motion for a stay joins a request filed by Glossip's attorneys in January asking the country's highest court for relief citing new evidence they claim brings two questions of Brady v. Maryland violations.

More than 30 state and federal prosecutors and Oklahoma Rep. Kevin McDugle filed briefs in support of Glossip in that case, which remains pending before the court.