Judges in Oklahoma’s criminal appeals court have rejected a request to overturn the conviction of death row prisoner Richard Glossip.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Thursday rejected the post-conviction relief request made by Attorney General Gentner Drummond, ruling that Glossips “is not entitled to a stay of execution” despite the fact that the prosecution and defence raised a number of objections to his first-degree conviction in a murder-for-hire plot.
Drummond stated in a statement, “I am not willing to allow an execution to proceed despite so many uncertainties. I do accept the Court of Criminal Appeals’ ruling. “Ultimate certainty is necessary to maintain the integrity of the death penalty. I will carefully analyse the decision and think about what needs to be done to achieve justice.
The appeal justices in Oklahoma reject Glossip’s
In the murder-for-hire scheme where it was alleged that Glossip’s , 60, hired Justin Sneed to kill motel owner Barry Van Treese in 1997 in Oklahoma City, Glossip was twice found guilty of first-degree murder.
Glossi was “given unprecedented access to the prosecution files,” according to state appellate judges who wrote in the Thursday refusal, but he did not produce any material “that would convince this Court to overturn the jury’s finding that he is guilty of first-degree murder.”
According to judges’ findings, “His new application does not provide any additional information which would cause this court to vacate his conviction or sentence.”
34 Republican legislators from formed an ad hoc committee after the case attracted international attention over concerns that finally prompted them to push for the abolition of the death sentence.
The committee’s chairman, state representative Kevin McDugle, a Republican from Broken Arrow, pledged to “fight to end the death penalty in ” if Glossi was put to death.
At the ad hoc committee’s request, the Houston, Texas, legal firm Reed Smith reviewed the case independently and noted many issues with Glossip’s conviction.
Rex Duncan, an Oklahoma lawyer appointed by the attorney general to serve as the independent counsel, also just submitted his final report, which raised a number of questions about Glossip’s guilt but did not entirely disprove it.
Glossip’s lawyer, Don Knight, asserted that problems discovered by several independent assessments should constitute the basis for a new trial.
Knight stated in a news release that it was improper for the court to try to force the state to carry out Mr. Glossip’s execution since “the state now agrees that the only witness to allege that Mr. Glossi was involved in this crime cannot be believed.” “We will ask the US Supreme Court to reconsider this blatantly unfair decision because we cannot allow this long-standing injustice to continue uncontested. We implore all people in Oklahoma who value justice to unite with Mr. Glossi and the state of Oklahoma to put an end to this unfair trial and give Mr. Glossi the fresh start he so well deserves.
Sneed agreed to a plea agreement in exchange for a life sentence that included an admission of guilt and a statement to the police that Glossip had ordered the death of Van Treese.
Gloss ip’s conviction was reversed by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals before a 2004 retrial led to a second conviction and the death penalty.
Drummond said in his petition that Glossi p’s conviction ought to be overturned because Sneed had testified dishonestly that he had “never seen any psychiatrist or anything” despite having been prescribed lithium by a doctor to address a previous diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder.
Despite Drummond’s admission of the allegedly misleading evidence, the judges noted that this admission is insufficient to circumvent restrictions on subsequent post-conviction review.
The judges stated that “the State’s concession is not supported by law or fact.”
Both the Reed Smith law firm assessment and Duncan’s evaluation criticised the prosecution for allegedly hiding a box of evidence that had just been made accessible to the defence.
The accusations that prosecutors suppressed evidence did not amount to a Brady violation, according to state appellate judges.
Judges ruled that “materiality” is not proven by the mere chance that a piece of unreported information would have aided the defence or changed the outcome.
Prior to the botched executions in 2014 and 2015, which resulted in a years-long suspension, Oklahoma’s death chamber was among the busiest in the country. Then-Gov. Mary Fallin issued a stay of execution only minutes before Glossi was first set to be put to death.
When John Marion Grant was put to death in October 2021, the state’s ban on executions was lifted. Before receiving a deadly injection to end his life, he had over two dozen convulsions and puked on himself.