Glossip Denied Retrial, Attorney General Still Seeking Justice

Denied. That's the ruling from the Oklahoma Court of Criminal appeals on Richard Glossip's request to overturn his murder conviction. Both Glossip's attorneys and Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond were asking the court to grant the death row inmate a new trial.

In the unanimous decision, the high court not only denied Glossip and the AG's request to have the conviction overturned, but also denied a stay for Glossip's execution. Meaning he is still set to die on May 18th.

Glossip was convicted of hiring another man, Justin Sneed, to murder motel owner Barry Van Treese. Earlier this month, Attorney General Gentner Drummond said he didn't believe Glossip was completely innocent in the case but agreed it should be sent back to a lower court to be retried. However, Thursday, justices said there was nothing in Glossip's motion that would cause them to overturn the jury's decision.

In the filing, the justices said Oklahoma law only allows them to review issues that the court has not already ruled on. Instead “The Court’s review of subsequent post-conviction applications is limited to errors which would have changed the outcome or claims of factual innocence.” The justices say any new information in the filing was either known or could have been developed with “reasonable diligence” including proof of Steed’s mental illness. Therefore “Glossip has exhausted every avenue and we have found no legal or factual ground that which would require relief in this case.”

The court decision also says “The Attorney General’s ‘concession’ does not directly provide statutory or legal grounds for the relief in this case."

In response, AG Drummond said while he respects the court’s opinion "I am not willing to allow an execution to proceed despite so many doubts. Ensuring the integrity of the death penalty demands complete certainty. I will thoroughly review the ruling and consider what steps should be taken to ensure justice."

Glossip's attorney Don Knight also issued a statement saying: “Oklahoma’s elected Attorney General Gentner Drummond found, after conducting his own independent review, that the State’s star witness against Mr. Glossip, Justin Sneed, was not a truthful witness. Without Sneed’s “material misstatements” the outcome of Mr. Glossip’s trial would have been different. Since the State now agrees that the only witness to allege that Mr. Glossip was involved in this crime cannot be believed, it is unconscionable for the court to attempt to force the State to move forward with his execution. We cannot permit this longstanding injustice to go unchallenged and will be filing for review of this manifestly unjust ruling in the United States Supreme Court. We ask all Oklahomans who believe in justice to stand with Mr. Glossip, and the State of Oklahoma, to stop this wrongful judicial execution, and grant Mr. Glossip the new trial he so rightly deserves.”

Glossip’s clemency hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday.