Glossip won a temporary retrieve two weeks ago but now Okahoma’s Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled by a narrow 3-2 margin his execution by chemical injection can proceed.
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Glossip is scheduled to be executed Wednesday.
The appeals court granted an eleventh-hour emergency two week stay of execution just before noon on September 16 after Glossip’s attorneys fought to introduce new evidence that they say would exonerate their client.
Glossip was convicted of orchestrating the murder of his boss, Oklahoma City motel owner Barry Van Treese, in 1997. Prosecutors allege Glossip masterminded the killing at the motel in Oklahoma City because he was afraid Van Treese was about to fire him for embezzling money and poorly managing the inn.
An appeals court had thrown out a previous conviction, saying evidence against Glossip was “extremely weak”. One inmate, Michael G. Scott, was incarcerated with Sneed in 2006 at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center when he heard Sneed tell other inmates he lied to police and “set up” Glossip.
There was no physical evidence linking Glossip to the crime, just the testimony of the teenager who escaped the death penalty in return for testifying against Glossip.
The majority ruling said: “We find, therefore, an evidentiary hearing, discovery or further stay of execution is not warranted in this case”.
August 14, 1998 – Glossip convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
Gov. Mary Fallin, who rebuffed requests for stays of execution to afford attorneys more time, asserted in a statement, “The state of Oklahoma has gone to extraordinary lengths to guarantee that Richard Glossip is treated fairly and that the claims made by him and his attorneys are taken seriously”.
January 28, 2015 – U.S. Supreme Court halts executions in Oklahoma until it decides on lethal injection drugs.
Both Fallin and Pruitt restated their sympathy for the family of Van Treese, who was beaten to death by Justin Sneed.
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Henricksen said Glossip’s legal team, a group of lawyers representing him pro bono, have new testimony gathered over the weekend from an inmate who served time with Sneed. Glossip, the lead plaintiff in that case, argued that the sedative midazolam violated the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment because it didn’t adequately render an inmate unconscious before the second and third drugs were administered.
