Former loss of life row inmate Richard Glossip, who spent practically 30 years on loss of life row earlier than the Supreme Court docket overturned his conviction earlier this yr, could also be launched from jail at present.
Glossip, 62, will seem in court docket on Wednesday in Oklahoma Metropolis for a bond listening to relating to his potential launch.
The previous motel supervisor was convicted in 1997 of commissioning the homicide of his former boss Barry Van Treese, the proprietor of a motel in Oklahoma Metropolis. Glossip has maintained his innocence.
The Supreme Court docket threw out Glossip’s homicide conviction in February as a result of a key witness lied in court docket and prosecutors withheld details about him.
The witness, Justin Sneed, admitted to killing Van Treese, however informed prosecutors that the killing was at Glossip’s route in alternate for $10,000. Sneed, a motel handyman, acquired a life sentence for the crime, whereas Glossip was given the loss of life penalty.
Within the Supreme Court docket’s majority ruling, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that prosecutors “knew Sneed’s statements have been false” and that “as a result of Sneed’s testimony was the one direct proof of Glossip’s guilt of capital homicide, the jury’s evaluation of Sneed’s credibility was essentially determinative right here.”
“Therefore, there’s a affordable chance that correcting Sneed’s testimony would have affected the judgment of the jury,” she wrote.
Glossip’s legal professional, Don Knight, didn’t instantly return a request for remark. In February, he lauded the Supreme Court docket’s ruling.
“He had 9 execution dates, three final meals, and clearly, to lastly get aid has been enormous for him, and he’s thrilled past phrases,” Knight mentioned on the time.
Because the ruling, Glossip has been faraway from loss of life row and held with out bail within the Oklahoma County Detention Middle.
The court docket’s ruling got here a number of years after a bunch of bipartisan Oklahoma lawmakers championed Glossip’s innocence, commissioning an unbiased report in his protection.
The 2022 report concluded that “no affordable jury listening to the whole file would convict Glossip of first-degree homicide.”
The most recent twist in Glossip’s case got here final month when Oklahoma State Legal professional Basic Gentner Drummond mentioned that he intends to pursue a brand new homicide trial in opposition to Glossip on a first-degree homicide cost.
“Whereas it was clear to me and to the U.S. Supreme Court docket that Mr. Glossip didn’t obtain a good trial, I’ve by no means proclaimed his innocence,” Drummond mentioned in an announcement on the time. “After the excessive court docket remanded the matter again to district court docket, my workplace totally reviewed the deserves of the case in opposition to Richard Glossip and concluded that enough proof exists to safe a homicide conviction.”
Drummond added that he would search a life sentence for Glossip reasonably than the loss of life penalty.
The state legal professional normal’s workplace didn’t instantly return a request for remark.
