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Thread: Death Row Inmate Richard Glossip gets right to argue for new trial after almost three decades of declaring his innocence and huge trial issues

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    Moderator puzzld's Avatar
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    Death Row Inmate Richard Glossip gets right to argue for new trial after almost three decades of declaring his innocence and huge trial issues

    In June, the US Supreme Court cleared the way for Oklahoma to execute Richard Glossip?who has been sitting on death row since 1998, when he was convicted of first-degree murder?using a controversial drug that's been implicated in several botched executions. Barring a last-minute stay by Gov. Mary Fallin, the state plans to put him to death on Wednesday. But if it does, it may execute an innocent man.

    Glossip's landmark Supreme Court petition challenging the method of his execution is a footnote to a larger story that highlights the death penalty's many flaws.


    Here's the backstory: In 1997, Glossip was working at the Best Budget Motel in Oklahoma City, when the body of his boss, motel owner Barry Van Treese, was discovered in Room 102. Within a week of finding the body, the police arrested Justin Sneed, a 19-year-old handyman and meth addict who worked at the motel. Sneed confessed to beating Van Treese to death with a baseball bat. His DNA was all over the crime scene, and his fingerprints were found on a soda cup in Van Treese's car. But egged on by police officers who promised him he could avoid a death sentence, Sneed claimed that Glossip had hired him to kill their boss.

    No physical evidence linked Glossip to the crime. (Prosecutors tried to combat this problem by suggesting that the lack of Glossip's fingerprints at the crime scene was actually evidence of his guilt.) In exchange for testifying against Glossip, Sneed received a life sentence. Meanwhile, a jury sentenced Glossip to death based entirely on Sneed's testimony and prosecutors' contention that he had wielded undue influence over Sneed, whom they described as a hapless dupe. An Oklahoma appeals court overturned the verdict, finding Glossip's lawyer incompetent and the evidence against him strikingly weak. A second trial was held in 2004. Before it started, prosecutors offered Glossip a deal: Plead guilty to second-degree murder and receive a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 20 years. Glossip, who had no prior criminal record, refused, maintaining his innocence.

    The second jury also found him guilty and once again sentenced him to death. That verdict was upheld. In both trials, Sneed's testimony was inconsistent, changing considerably from what he'd initially told the police in 1997. Transcripts of the police interview with Sneed show officers coaching him to implicate Gossip, but video of the interrogation wasn't screened at either trial?a fact that led the first verdict to be overturned, but not the second.

    It's not unconstitutional to execute someone who didn't commit murder. Hiring someone else to do the dirty work, or conspiring with someone else to kill for money, is grounds for the death penalty, so long as there's proof of that person's "intent to kill." In 2010, for instance, Virginia executed Theresa Lewis for hiring hit men to kill her husband and adult stepson, while the killers themselves got life without parole. But even under that standard, Glossip's death sentence is a stretch. Prosecutors went to great lengths to suggest that Glossip wanted to kill his boss because he was going to get fired. But defense lawyers showed that Glossip had done a decent enough job at the motel that he'd received salary bonuses for 11 out of the prior 12 months before the murder. Prosecutors noted that when he was arrested, Glossip had about $1,200 in cash on him?evidence, they said, that Sneed had robbed Van Treese and split the money with Glossip. The defense countered that Glossip had just sold his belongings so he could get legal help after being questioned by the police. Indeed, Glossip was arrested coming out of a lawyer's office.

    The appeals in Glossip's case have essentially run out, with the US Supreme Court turning down his last request for a rehearing on August 28. But over the past year, new developments have bolstered his claims of innocence. In October 2014, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board denied a clemency petition from Glossip. The board then received an email claiming to be from Sneed's daughter, saying she believed Glossip was innocent and that her father would likely recant his testimony if he could be sure he wouldn't lose his plea agreement and end up on death row himself.

    She wrote:

    For a couple of years now, my father has been talking to me about recanting his original testimony. But [he] has been afraid to act upon it, in fear of being charged with the Death Penalty, and not be here for his children. My father has no reason to do so as a favor to Richard, as him and Mr. Glossip have no relationship and have had no communication in the last 17 years. I feel his conscious[sic] is getting to him. His fear of recanting, but guilt about not doing so, makes it obvious that information he is sitting on would exonerate Mr. Glossip.

    The letter didn't arrive in time, so the board never considered it, and Sneed's daughter has never repeated the claim. Glossip's lawyers say they have talked to her and she has said she now wants to support her father, who has denied wanting to recant his story.

    The unusual circumstances of Glossip's case and his rapidly approaching execution date have attracted international attention, including a sympathetic story in the National Enquirer. Dr. Phil devoted a show to Glossip in August featuring the actress Susan Sarandon, who publicly called on Oklahoma to spare his life, and Sister Helen Prejean, the nun Sarandon played in Dead Man Walking, who has also asked Oklahoma to spare Glossip. More than 200,000 people have signed online petitions supporting his clemency. Last week, Sir Richard Branson joined the chorus. So did former Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn (R), and legendary Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer sent a letter to Gov. Fallin urging her to stay Glossip's execution.

    Last-ditch efforts to save potentially innocent condemned inmates haven't fared well in the past. Most notably, the state of Texas executed Todd Willingham in 2004 despite a huge amount of evidence suggesting he had been wrongly convicted. Most death row exonerations have resulted from DNA testing. But the only DNA evidence in Glossip's case implicates Sneed, the man who has already confessed to the crime. So a reprieve for Glossip is a long shot, especially in Oklahoma, where last year Fallin threatened to execute a pair of condemned men in defiance of her own state Supreme Court, which had issued a stay in their cases. When the judges refused to lift the stay, the GOP-controlled state Legislature threatened to start impeachment proceedings them. The judges caved, and the state went on to badly botch the execution of one of the inmates, Clayton Lockett, a debacle that prompted Glossip and his legal team to challenge Oklahoma's lethal injection procedure?unsuccessfully?before the US Supreme Court.

    Fallin shows no signs of wavering on Glossip's fate. Earlier this month, a local Fox station reported that a juror from his first trial would have voted differently if some of the information that has recently come to light had been presented to the jury. In response to the story, a spokesman for Fallin said, "The fact that Glossip had one conviction overturned and was given a second trial illustrates that our justice system does respond to mistakes and has treated Glossip fairly. Governor Fallin believes in our justice system and is committed to upholding the law."

    Glossip's legal team is frantically trying to save his life. But the options are limited.

    Glossip's Hail Mary for staving off execution in the federal courts was his failed petition to the Supreme Court earlier this year, in which his lawyers argued that executing him with the sedative midazolam, a component of Oklahoma's lethal injection cocktail, would be unconstitutionally cruel. While the liberals on the court, led by Justice Stephen Breyer, used the case to make an impassioned argument for abolishing capital punishment, the conservatives held sway and ruled against Glossip.

    As a result, much of the recent public pressure and lobbying has been aimed at Oklahoma's governor. But Fallin only has the power to grant Glossip a 60-day stay of his execution, unless the parole board recommends clemency, which it hasn't. His last best hope lies with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, where Gossip's lawyers will present last-minute new evidence on Tuesday that Sneed lied about Glossip's involvement in the murder.

    Much of that evidence hinges on the fact that Sneed was seriously addicted to methamphetamine, which he used intravenously. Sneed's former drug dealer has signed an affidavit saying Sneed supported his habit by regularly stealing from the Best Budget Motel's customers and breaking into their cars. The testimony is designed to change the government's narrative to show that Sneed was a drug addict who killed Van Treese during a robbery gone awry, and that he simply tried to use Glossip to save himself.

    If the Oklahoma court finds the evidence credible, it could stay Glossip's execution until it can hold a hearing to probe the new information further. Glossip's lawyers realize they have a high bar to meet, particularly in Oklahoma. "This is not a DNA-type case," says Don Knight, one of Glossip's attorneys. "This is a case of 'he said, she said.' It's hard to refute that kind of a situation."

    Still, Glossip has been lucky before: He received a last-minute reprieve from execution in January, when the US Supreme Court decided to take up his lethal injection challenge. He'll know by Wednesday whether he'll get another chance to stave off the death chamber.
    http://www.motherjones.com/politics/...ssip-wednesday
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    Senior Member bete noire's Avatar
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    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...b0e333e54c28fc


    Death Row Inmate Richard Glossip Wins Last-Minute Reprieve.

    Cristian Farias
    Legal Affairs Writer, The Huffington Post
    Posted: 09/16/2015 01:03 PM EDT | Edited: 15 minutes ago
    Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip won a last-minute reprieve from the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, just a few hours prior to his scheduled execution.

    Robert Patton, director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, is scheduled to address the media following the court order, according to Graham Lee Brewer, a reporter with The Oklahoman.


    This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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    Execution of 'framed' killer is called off at the last minute because officials were going to use the WRONG drug

    Execution of 'framed' killer is called off at the last minute because officials were going to use the WRONG drug - after inmate had eaten his epic 5,000-calorie last meal

    -Richard Glossip, 52, was due to be executed in McAlester at 3pm
    -But Gov Mary Fallin halted the procedure because of concerns over a drug
    -Potassium acetate - a de-icing solution - was to be used in the state's cocktail as opposed to potassium chloride, which stops the heart
    -He still had his last meal - consisting of dishes from three fast food chains
    -Ordered food from Pizza Hut, Long John Silvers and Wendy's
    -Pope Francis had also made a plea to Fallin to commute Glossip's sentence earlier this month
    -In a letter to her office he said the commutation would 'give witness to the value of person's life'
    -Glossip was found guilty of arranging the 1997 murder of Barry Van Treese

    A convicted murderer who had a 5,000 calorie last meal has been spared execution after the Governor of Oklahoma issued a dramatic stay.
    Richard Glossip was in a holding cell watching TV and waiting to be led into the death chamber when he received the news Gov. Mary Fallin had postponed the procedure, citing concerns over one of the drugs.
    The 52 year old, who has always maintained his innocence while languishing on death row for almost 18 years, was set to face the lethal injection at the state's death chamber in McAlester at 3pm on Wednesday.
    He was even given his last meal, consisting of four meals from three different fast food chains, on Tuesday evening.
    But Fallin stopped the procedure because potassium acetate, one of the three drugs that would have been administered, is not part the state's procedures.
    It would have been the third drug used in the cocktail to put Fallin to death, and is normally used as a food additive or de-icing solution.
    The state generally uses potassium chloride, which stops the heart.

    'It is unclear why, and extremely frustrating to the attorney general, that the Department of Corrections did not have the correct drugs to carry out the execution,' said Aaron Cooper, a spokesman for Attorney General Scott Pruitt.
    Oklahoma's execution procedures have been under scrutiny since an incident in April 2014 when Clayton Lockett suffered a heart attack following a failed lethal injection.
    He died 43 minutes after being administered an untested cocktail of drugs even though the execution was stopped.
    Potassium chloride was one of the ingredients in that cocktail.

    An Oklahoma Department of Corrections spokesman told Daily Mail Online Glossip ate his pre-ordered last meal in his cell less than 24 hours before his sentence was planned to be carried out.
    It consisted of a medium double bacon and double cheese pizza from Pizza Hut, two fish n' chips from Long John Silvers and a Baconator from Wendy's. He washed it all down with a Wendy's Strawberry Malt.
    In a phone interview from death row Wednesday afternoon, Glossip said Department of Corrections officials gave him little information about the reason for the execution stay.
    He said he did not know that the delay was prompted because of a question over the use of the drug potassium acetate.

    When told of the confusion over the drug, Glossip responded: 'That's just crazy.'
    Glossip said he's now been returned to his normal cell on death row. He says he's 'happy to have 37 more days'.
    Dale Baich, an attorney representing him, also released a statement saying: 'Today, with literally moments to spare, Oklahoma realized that it wasn't capable of competently executing Richard Glossip.'
    It added: 'Today's hastily abandoned plans show what happens when states carry out executions in secrecy with unqualified execution team members and no public oversight.
    'Oklahoma has had months to prepare for this execution, and today's events only highlight how more transparency and public oversight in executions is sorely needed.'
    The stay was issued just hours after it was revealed that the Pope had written a letter to her, asking that his death sentence be commuted.
    Glossip's execution date is now set for November 6.

    It has also cast doubts over whether Benjamin Cole, the next convict facing death in Oklahoma, will face the lethal injection on October 7.
    'Potassium acetate is a food preservative, but today it was a Richard Glossip preservative because he is still alive,' said Sister Helen Prejean according to NBC News.

    A statement from Fallin's office read: 'The stay will give the Department of Corrections and its attorneys the opportunity to determine whether potassium acetate is compliant with the state's court-approved execution procedures.
    'Last minute questions were raised today about Oklahoma's execution protocol and the chemicals used for lethal injection.

    'After consulting with the attorney general and the Department of Corrections, I have issued a 37 day stay of execution while the state addresses those questions and ensures it is complying fully with the protocols approved by federal courts.'
    Fallin added: 'My sincerest sympathies go out to the Van Treese family, who has waited so long to see justice done.'
    Earlier on Wednesday Oklahoma prison officials delayed it while waiting on the U.S. Supreme Court to consider a request to halt the punishment.

    But just two minutes before he was set to be strapped to the gurney, Justice Sotomayor denied the request.
    Just an hour later however Fallin reversed the call again.

    The Pope asked the Governor of Oklahoma to commute the death sentence of a convicted murderer set to be executed on Wednesday.
    The representative for Pope Francis in the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, sent a letter to Gov. Mary Fallin on September 19, pleading to officials to not kill him.
    The letter says a commutation 'would give clearer witness to the value and dignity of every person's life'.
    The decision to stay Glossip's execution comes just 24 hours after the Pope's bid to stop Kelly Renee Gissendaner being executed in Georgia proved to be unsuccessful.


    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz3nIVAMloX
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    Article snipped

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    https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/27/us/ri...urt/index.html

    What we know about the case of death row inmate Richard Glossip, who says he’s innocent, and the Supreme Court

    Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip will finally get the chance to argue for a new trial before the US Supreme Court after insisting for almost three decades he is innocent of the murder for which he was sentenced to die.

    The high court this week agreed to take up the inmate’s extraordinary appeal, which is backed even by Oklahoma’s attorney general, a Republican whose support rests on evidence that undermines the credibility of the state’s star witness – the man who killed the victim – and suggests prosecutorial misconduct marred the case. Celebrities including Kim Kardashian also have been among his supporters.

    Through it all, Glossip has endured nine execution dates, with each successive one seeming to raise more questions about the fair administration of the death penalty in Oklahoma and beyond.

    Glossip “was very excited that the court takes his case very seriously and recognizes the importance of this case and has agreed to hear the case,” his attorney Don Knight told CNN’s Jake Tapper of his client’s reaction to the news. “We’re looking forward to the next phase.”

    Glossip’s attorneys have asked the justices to address several questions, including whether the prosecution’s suppression of evidence and its failure to correct false testimony violated Glossip’s right to due process. Additionally, they have asked whether his conviction should be reversed when it is “so infected with errors that the State no longer seeks to defend it.”

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    Cousin Greg Angiebla's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by raisedbywolves View Post
    https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/27/us/ri...urt/index.html

    What we know about the case of death row inmate Richard Glossip, who says he’s innocent, and the Supreme Court
    1 saying that Kim K supports him is meaningless because shes trash and noone takes her seriously

    2 why doesnt The Innocence Project look into this case instead of Scott fucking Peterson's?

    "The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man" -Charles Darwin

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    Quote Originally Posted by Angiebla View Post
    1 saying that Kim K supports him is meaningless because shes trash and noone takes her seriously

    2 why doesnt The Innocence Project look into this case instead of Scott fucking Peterson's?
    Agree completely!

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    Moderator puzzld's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bewitchingstorm View Post
    Agree completely!
    Yeah. If there's a case out there where there's no "reasonable" doubt it's damn dumb fuck Peterson.
    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    lol at Nestle being some vicious smiter, she's the nicest person on this site besides probably puzzld. Or at least the last person to resort to smiting.
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    Quote Originally Posted by puzzld View Post
    Yeah. If there's a case out there where there's no "reasonable" doubt it's damn dumb fuck Peterson.
    I know. It just boggles my mind to think there are people who think he is innocent.

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