The U.S. Supreme Court on May 5 granted death row inmate Richard Glossip a stay of execution. At the same time, it considers two writs of certiorari in his murder case.
Glossip’s attorney is hopeful he is one step closer to saving Glossip from the execution chamber.
“We hope that the Court will reverse the decision of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals and vacate Mr. Glossip’s conviction once and for all,” attorney Don Knight of Littleton, Colorado, wrote in an email to The Epoch Times.
According to the order, the stay is issued pending the court’s ruling on Glossip’s attorneys’ request to hear his case, find Glossip indigent, and appoint him legal counsel.
The order reads, “Should both petitions for writs of certiorari be denied, this stay shall terminate automatically.”
Oklahoma’s Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond and several pro-death penalty state legislators have joined capital punishment abolitionists in calling for Glossip to be moved from death row.
Drummond believes Glossip is guilty of a crime, but not one he would be executed for. In court documents, he wrote that Glossip’s initial defense was inadequate, and there is evidence of prosecutorial misconduct that requires his conviction be vacated, and the case tried again.
“I am very grateful to the U.S. Supreme Court for their decision to grant a stay of execution. I will continue working to ensure justice prevails in this important case,” Drummond wrote in an email to The Epoch Times.
The case has drawn international attention. Talk show host, Dr. Phil, plans to broadcast his show during a rally on the steps of the Oklahoma state capitol on May 9. Noted death penalty abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean has taken up Glossip’s case as well as the actress Susan Sarandon, who played Prejean in the movie “Dead Man Walking,” and television reality show personality Kim Kardashian.
Glossip, manager of a motel in Oklahoma City, and handyman Justin Sneed were convicted of the 1997 murder of their employer Barry Van Treese.
According to court records, Sneed was sentenced to life without parole as part of a plea deal in which he agreed to testify against Glossip.
In 1997, Sneed was a 19-year-old roofer and methamphetamine addict whom Glossip had hired to do maintenance work. When he confessed to the murder, Sneed told police Glossip was afraid that Van Treese suspected him of stealing from the motel.
During a videotaped interrogation from 1997 posted on YouTube by a group called SaveRichardGlossip, Sneed told police Glossip promised him $10,000 if he would kill Van Treese.
The Court of Criminal Appeals for Oklahoma issued an opinion on April 20, 2023, stating that after two trials, five appeals, and two reprieves, the former motel manager had exhausted all his legal options.
“Glossip is neither entitled to post-conviction relief nor a stay of execution,” the Appeals Court decision reads.
The Pardon and Parole Board denied Glossip clemency during an April 26, 2023, hearing.
