Catholic Mobilizing Network continues to monitor the evolving case of Richard Glossip, who has maintained his innocence for the 25 years he has spent on death row. Dated updates will be included below.
May 18 Execution Date on Hold
May 5, 2023 | Richard Glossip has received a temporary stay of execution from the United States Supreme Court.
This stay allows the Supreme Court time to consider two pending writs of certiorari. If the court does consider either case, Glossip's execution will remain stayed until a ruling is issued. If the court does not consider either case, the stay of execution would be lifted.
CMN executive director Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy responded to this news saying, "Richard Glossip should not be put to death — not on May 18, not ever. No state should have the power to take the lives of its citizens. As we see in Mr. Glossip's case, the system is too broken, too cruel, too disrespecting of human dignity."
Clemency Denied for Richard Glossip Despite Potential Innocence
April 27, 2023 | The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board denied clemency for Richard Glossip — a man who has maintained his innocence over 25 years and through nine scheduled execution dates.
Oklahoma plans to execute Glossip on May 18 for the 1997 murder of Barry Van Treese, despite significant doubt about his involvement.
Another man, Justin Sneed, was convicted of the murder of Van Treese. He now serves a life sentence after exchanging testimony to implicate Glossip in the murder, testifying that Richard orchestrated a murder-for-hire.
Glossip has always maintained his innocence. And Sneed has since requested to recant his testimony.
Glossip's case has gained the support of Oklahoma State legislators and even the Oklahoma Attorney General.
An ad hoc group of Republican Oklahoma state legislators commissioned an independent investigation into Richard’s case with the international law firm Reed Smith. Their findings suggested that if a jury today heard all of the evidence that is now available, no reasonable juror would find Glossip guilty of murder-for-hire.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond later directed his own Independent Counsel to conduct a comprehensive review of Richard’s conviction. Following that review, AG Drummond said, “I have concluded that I cannot stand behind the murder conviction and death sentence of Richard Glossip.”
AG Drummond requested that the Criminal Court of Appeals throw out Glossip's conviction and remand his case to the District Courts.
That request was denied.
And on April 26, 2023, AG Drummond joined Glossip's legal team in supporting his clemency application in front of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.
The Board voted 2-2 to not recommend clemency for Glossip.
The Board should consist of five voting members, but one member recused himself from the hearing due to a conflict of interest: his wife was the lead prosecutor at Glossip's trial. Oklahoma has no law that requires a recused member to be replaced.
Glossip's attorneys have requested that Governor Kevin Stitt grant a 60-day reprieve to stop the execution from moving forward on the May 18 execution date. His legal team has also filed a motion for a stay of execution with the United States Supreme Court. The state of Oklahoma has indicated that they will not oppose that motion.
