US Supreme Court halts execution of Oklahoma inmate Richard Glossip
- In an unusual twist for a death row case, the state’s attorney general says an investigation has ‘cast doubt’ on the prisoner’s conviction over a 1997 murder
- A worker who beat motel owner Barry Van Treese to death with a baseball bat said Glossip, a manager at the motel, had hired him to do it
The US Supreme Court on Friday halted the execution of Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip, whose case has drawn support from the state’s Republican attorney general after an investigation shed new light on evidence relating to the 1997 murder Glossip was convicted of commissioning.
The justices acted after a divided Oklahoma state panel on April 26 voted against recommending clemency for Glossip, 60, who was expected to be executed on May 18 for his role in the murder of motel owner Barry Van Treese.
The justices agreed to halt the execution while they consider whether to take up Glossip’s two pending petitions for appeal, which challenge his conviction on various grounds. Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch did not participate in Friday’s decision by the court.
In an unusual twist in a death-penalty case, Glossip on April 6 gained backing from Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who said the findings of an independent counsel he tapped to examine the case had “cast doubt on the conviction”.
“After thorough and serious deliberation, I have concluded that I cannot stand behind the murder conviction and death sentence of Richard Glossip,” Drummond said in a statement announcing he would file a motion that day urging an Oklahoma appeal court to vacate the conviction and return the case to the federal district court.
“This is not to say I believe he is innocent. However, it is critical that Oklahomans have absolute faith that the death penalty is administered fairly and with certainty,” Drummond added.