With Oklahoma's Blessing, SCOTUS Grants Death Row Inmate a New Trial
It's said that cats have nine lives. Given how many scheduled execution dates he's survived, Richard Glossip might have a feline in his family tree. On February 25, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States gave Glossip something he's sought for decades on Oklahoma's death row: a new trial.
In a five to three ruling with one recusal, the justices held that the prosecutors at Glossip's 1998 murder trial violated his constitutional rights. Glossip also had an unlikely ally in the state of Oklahoma, which said a lower court didn't apply the proper weight to the concerns of the attorney general.
Glossip has traveled a long and winding legal road to get to this point. Having long had the proverbial axe hanging over his neck, Glossip now faces the possibility of exoneration.
A Long Time in a Noose
In 1996, Barry Van Treese, owner of a Best Budget Inn in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was beaten to death with an aluminum baseball bat at the motel. Police arrested the maintenance man, Justin Sneed, who was 19 and had a methamphetamine habit. Sneed agreed to a plea deal that took the death sentence off the table in exchange for testifying that Richard Glossip, the motel's manager, had paid him to kill Van Treese.
Glossip maintained his innocence and refused a plea deal to testify against Sneed. A jury found him guilty in 1998 and sentenced him to death, but the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) threw out the conviction in 2001, citing ineffective counsel and an "extremely weak" case. A different jury convicted him again in 2004, and an OCCA split panel upheld the conviction and the death sentence in 2007.
2015 was a busy legal year for Glossip. His new attorneys filed papers claiming new witnesses could refute Sneed's testimony, which was the pillar of Glossip's conviction. On September 28, OCCA voted 3-2 to allow Glossip's execution two days later. Glossip was served a final meal before receiving a temporary stay of execution. This happened three times.
Earlier in the year, Glossip had become the plaintiff in a case before SCOTUS questioning the legality of the lethal injection method of execution. The process had become a source of controversy as both its effectiveness and humanity fell under question. SCOTUS ruled the execution could proceed in a 5-4 split between conservative and liberal Justices.
SCOTUS Divided
Having seemingly exhausted his legal options, Glossip was scheduled for execution again on May 18, 2023. His attorneys, citing new evidence, filed for a stay of execution. According to their filings, prosecutors at Glossip's murder trial hadn't corrected false testimony given by Sneed about a bipolar diagnosis and a visit to a psychiatrist.
It was also revealed in 2022 that there were boxes of evidence the prosecution never turned over to Glossip's defense team before the 1998 trial. This was discovered by the Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who commissioned an investigation. Despite the finding of serious issues, the OCCA refused to allow a new trial.
SCOTUS didn't feel the same way. In a 5-3 ruling that leaned on Napue v. Illinois, the Justices agreed that since Sneed's testimony was the only evidence used to convict Glossip, his reliability as a witness required disclosures denied by the prosecution.
Justice Neil Gorsuch recused himself, as he had been an appellate judge involved with the case. Justice Clarence Thomas cited an amicus from the Van Treese family in his dissent.
Richard Glossip is still far from being a free man. However, he has the hope that comes with the promise of another day in court to prove his claims of innocence. For now, the executioner will have to wait (again).
Related Resources
- When To Request Judicial Recusal? (FindLaw's Practice of Law)
- Lawyer Chooses Lethal Injection for Client in South Carolina's First Execution in 14 Years (FindLaw's Practice of Law)
- Death Penalties by State (FindLaw's Criminal Law)
