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. Since then, defense attorneys have introduced more evidence, but the court ruled they would not consider it in Tuesday’s decision.
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Richard Glossip was convicted of hiring an Oklahoma teenager to kill a motel owner in 1997. Glossip, the lead plaintiff in the 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.
Sister Prejean and Oscar winning actress Susan Sarandon have made several appearances on US TV appealing for clemency.
Sky News reporter Ian Woods has been invited by Glossip to witness him being put to death. (Glossip’s lawyers say Scott was in a auto accident and has been unable to work, causing him to fall behind on his fine payments.) When Joe Tapley, Sneed’s former cellmate, filed a similar affidavit on Glossip’s behalf, prosecutors filed to revoke his suspended sentence in a DUI case. Glossip is scheduled to be executed Wednesday for ordering the 1997 beating death of a motel owner. Glossip was scheduled for execution the next day.
Judge Arlene Johnson wrote in her dissent that she doesn’t believe Glossip received a fair trial, and that the majority’s denial seems like a preemptive move to keep Glossip’s attorneys from filing any additional last-minute claims.
She also described the governor of Oklahoma as a “horrible person” for refusing to intervene.
Rather than admit a mistake was made, apologize and fix it, Oklahoma chose to do everything they can to cover it up.
Glossip wasn’t helped by his lawyers’ performance in the courtroom. He was found guilty and sentenced to death after a retrial in 2004.
Glossip’s lawyers, a few of the top death penalty attorneys in the country who are working pro bono, have asserted that Sneed was an IV meth addict and have questioned the reliability of his testimony.
However, there is no physical evidence corroborating Sneed’s accusation. “An evidentiary hearing will give Glossip the chance to prove his allegations that Sneed has recanted, or demonstrate to the Court that he cannot provide evidence that would exonerate him”.
They added Sneed has given contradictory accounts of the events. However, Glossip’s attorneys argued the court has the power to grant relief any time an error “has resulted in a miscarriage of justice or constitutes a substantial violation of a constitutional or statutory right”.
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The progressive group MoveOn.org plans to stage a rally outside the court on Tuesday evening to urge the justices to halt his execution. Sneed testified in the two trials the money he was paid came from Van Treese’s auto.
