The US Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for Richard Glossip, an Oklahoma man who has been on death row for several years. The court's decision was made with a 5-2 ruling, overturning a previous decision by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.
The move to grant a new trial follows a request by the state's Republican attorney general, who joined Glossip in advocating for a retrial. Glossip was convicted in the 1997 murder of Barry Van Treese, the owner of an Oklahoma City motel where Glossip worked. Over the years, Glossip has had nine execution dates postponed and has eaten his last meal three times.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor penned the opinion for the court, gaining support from fellow liberal justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Additionally, conservatives Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts joined the opinion. However, Justice Neil Gorsuch did not participate in the case.
Justice Sotomayor stated, "We conclude that the prosecution violated its constitutional obligation to correct false testimony," highlighting significant concerns regarding the initial trial.
Richard Glossip has consistently maintained his innocence in the case. The murder of Barry Van Treese was initially linked to Glossip's colleague, Justin Sneed, who was convicted of the killing. Sneed, however, claimed that Glossip had instructed him to commit the murder. It has since come to light that prosecutors failed to disclose Sneed's treatment for a serious psychiatric condition, which could have impacted the trial's outcome.
Glossip's first conviction was in 1998, but it was overturned in 2001. He was convicted again in 2004. In 2015, just moments before his execution, the process was halted to review the lethal injection drugs used. The Supreme Court's recent intervention in 2023 comes after the Oklahoma attorney general called for a new trial, citing concerns over the fairness of prior proceedings.
