Current:Home > StocksSupreme Court takes up death row case with a rare alliance. Oklahoma inmate has state’s support -FinanceMind
Supreme Court takes up death row case with a rare alliance. Oklahoma inmate has state’s support
View
Date:2025-04-15 03:39:44
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is returning to the case of Richard Glossip, who has spent most of the past quarter century on Oklahoma’s death row for a murder he says he did not commit.
In a rare alliance, lawyers for Glossip and the state will argue Wednesday that the justices should overturn Glossip’s conviction and death sentence because he did not get a fair trial.
The victim’s relatives have told the high court that they want to see Glossip executed.
Glossip has always maintained his innocence in the 1997 killing in Oklahoma City of his former boss, motel owner Barry Van Treese, in what prosecutors have alleged was a murder-for-hire scheme.
Another man, Justin Sneed, admitted robbing Van Treese and beating him to death with a baseball bat but testified he only did so after Glossip promised to pay him $10,000. Sneed received a life sentence in exchange for his testimony and was the key witness against Glossip.
But evidence that emerged only last year persuaded Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican, that Glossip did not get a fair trial.
Among Drummond’s concerns are that prosecutors suppressed evidence about Sneed’s psychiatric condition that might have undermined his testimony. Drummond also has cited a box of evidence in the case that was destroyed that might have helped Glossip’s defense.
The court will be wrestling with two legal issues. The justices will consider whether Glossip’s rights were violated because the evidence wasn’t turned over. They also will weigh whether the Oklahoma court decision upholding the conviction and sentence, reached after the state’s position changed, should be allowed to stand.
Prosecutors in at least three other death penalty cases in Alabama and Texas have pushed for death row inmates to be given new trials or at least spared the prospect of being executed. The inmates are: Toforest Johnson in Alabama, and Melissa Lucio and Areli Escobar in Texas. In another similar case, the justices refused a last-minute reprieve for Marcellus Williams, whom Missouri executed last month.
The justices issued their most recent order blocking Glossip’s execution last year. They previously stopped his execution in 2015, then ruled against him by a 5-4 vote in upholding Oklahoma’s lethal injection process. He avoided execution then only because of a mix-up in the drugs that were to be used.
Glossip was initially convicted in 1998, but won a new trial ordered by a state appeals court. He was convicted again in 2004.
Two former solicitors general, Seth Waxman and Paul Clement, represent Glossip and Oklahoma, respectively, at the Supreme Court. Christopher Michel, an attorney appointed by the court, is defending the Oklahoma court ruling that Glossip should be put to death.
More than a half-dozen states also have weighed in on the case, asking the Supreme Court to uphold Glossip’s conviction, arguing that they have a “substantial interest” in federal-court respect for state-court decisions.
Justice Neil Gorsuch is sitting out the case, presumably because he took part in it at an earlier stage when he was an appeals court judge.
A decision is expected by early summer.
veryGood! (54286)
Related
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- When does life begin? As state laws define it, science, politics and religion clash
- Alex Murdaugh's Lawyers Say He Invented Story About Dogs Causing Housekeeper's Fatal Fall
- SEC sues crypto giant Binance, alleging it operated an illegal exchange
- Who are the most valuable sports franchises? Forbes releases new list of top 50 teams
- With early Alzheimer's in the family, these sisters decided to test for the gene
- Today’s Climate: May 28, 2010
- How a new hard hat technology can protect workers better from concussion
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Hunger advocates want free school meals for all kids. It's tough sell in Congress
Ranking
- Who's hosting 'Saturday Night Live' tonight? Musical guest, how to watch Dec. 14 episode
- U.S. Military Not Doing Enough to Prepare Bases for Climate Change, GAO Warns
- There's no bad time to get a new COVID booster if you're eligible, CDC director says
- See the Best Dressed Stars Ever at the Kentucky Derby
- In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
- Today’s Climate: May 25, 2010
- New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu says he won't run for president in 2024
- Breaking Down the British Line of Succession Ahead of King Charles III's Coronation
Recommendation
The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
EPA Science Advisers Push Back on Wheeler, Say He’s Minimizing Their Role
You'll Never Believe Bridgerton's Connection to King Charles III's Coronation
Family of woman shot through door in Florida calls for arrest
A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
These Mother's Day Gifts From Kardashian-Jenner Brands Will Make Mom Say You're Doing Amazing, Sweetie
TikToker and Dad of 3 Bobby Moudy Dead by Suicide at Age 46
SEC sues crypto giant Binance, alleging it operated an illegal exchange