US Supreme Court overturns Oklahoma inmate Richard Glossip conviction and death sentence News
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US Supreme Court overturns Oklahoma inmate Richard Glossip conviction and death sentence

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned the murder conviction of Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip, ordering a new trial after it was found the state withheld evidence related to its main witness.

In a 5-3 ruling, the Supreme Court found the prosecutors had a constitutional obligation to correct false testimony. During trial, it came to light the prosecution in Glossip’s case “knowingly elicited false testimony … and failed to correct it,” according to the Supreme Court’s ruling, delivered by Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Glossip was convicted of paying Justin Sneed to murder Barry Van Treese, the owner of a motel, where he was beaten to death with a baseball bat in 1997. Glossip was an employee of the motel. At trial, Sneed had admitted to beating Van Treese to death but testified Glossip had offered him money to do so. Glossip admitted at the time to helping Sneed conceal the murder after the fact but denied any involvement in the murder itself.

In a statement, Glossip’s attorney Don Knight said he was thankful the Supreme Court sided with his client in vacating his conviction and granting a new trial:

We are thankful that a clear majority of the Court supports long-standing precedent that prosecutors cannot hide critical evidence from defense lawyers and cannot stand by while their witnesses knowingly lie to the jury. … Today was a victory for justice and fairness in our judicial system. Richard Glossip, who has maintained his innocence for 27 years, will now be given the chance to have the fair trial that he has always been denied.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from the majority opinion, while Justice Amy Coney Barrett said she would have allowed a state appeals court to decide how to proceed. In his dissent, Thomas emphasized the interests of Van Treese’s family and their wish to have the conviction and death sentence upheld. Justice Neil Gorsuch recused himself.

Glossip will remain in the maximum-security prison in which he is currently housed until Oklahoma decides whether to retry him, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement.

Drummond said:

I am pleased the high court has validated my grave concerns with how this prosecution was handled, and I am thankful we now have a fresh opportunity to see that justice is done … I have long maintained that I do not believe Mr. Glossip is innocent, but it is now an undeniable fact that he did not receive a fair trial.

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