OKLAHOMA CITY — Attorney General Gentner Drummond has appointed an independent counsel to review the case of a high-profile death-row inmate who claims to be harmless.
Former prosecutor Rex Duncan will review all points of the investigation, trial, sentencing and appeals course of for Richard Glossip, who is about to be executed for the 1997 beating dying of his boss, Oklahoma City motel proprietor Barry Van Treese, Drummond’s workplace introduced Thursday.
Glossip’s attorneys declare that their consumer was arrange by a motel upkeep man who they argue killed Van Treese throughout a botched theft and shifted the blame to Glossip to keep away from getting the dying penalty himself. The upkeep employee, Justin Sneed, confessed to the killing, saying Glossip provided to pay him $10,000 to commit the crime.
Drummond mentioned the independent review will assist his workplace put together for the clemency listening to that can happen weeks earlier than Glossip’s May 18 execution. The review additionally will make sure that justice is served for the Van Treese household and the accused, the legal professional common mentioned.
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“As my office will represent the State at the clemency hearing, it is my responsibility to ensure that we are appropriately responding to all evidence that has been presented through Mr. Glossip’s conviction and incarceration,” Drummond mentioned in a press release. “Circumstances surrounding this case necessitate a thorough review. While I am confident in our judicial system, that does not allow me to ignore evidence.”
Drummond mentioned he spoke with members of the Van Treese household prior to partaking the independent counsel.
Don Knight, Glossip’s legal professional, praised Drummond for appointing an independent counsel.
“From the beginning of our work on this case, all we have asked for is a fair review of all the evidence,” he mentioned in a press release.
Glossip’s attorneys sought a brand new listening to earlier than the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to present new evidence they mentioned would show that their consumer is harmless. The appeals court docket denied that request in November.
A bipartisan group of state lawmakers led by Rep. Kevin McDugle, R-Broken Arrow, backed the call for a new evidentiary hearing, a request that was not supported by former Attorney General John O’Connor.
Duncan, a retired Oklahoma Army National Guard colonel and former state lawmaker, served because the district legal professional for Osage and Pawnee counties from 2011 to 2019.
Glossip has been on dying row for greater than 20 years and has had his execution date stayed or reprieved a number of occasions.
Tulsa World Public Safety Reporter Kelsy Schlotthauer talks with Editor Jason Collington about why the Tulsa Police Department has a nationwide repute when it comes to fixing homicides. Schlotthauer wrote a narrative in regards to the Homicide Unit’s technique and among the tendencies that appeared within the metropolis’s 69 homicides final 12 months. She additionally talks about what it takes to work a job with a lot mayhem.
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