TULSA, Okla. — An Oklahoma death row inmate might keep away from execution for a fourth time after his protection workforce filed a petition containing new proof in his case.
The petition, filed on July 1, is the protection workforce’s last chance to show what they consider is Richard Glossip’s innocence.
Glossip has been on death row for greater than 2 many years after a jury convicted him in a homicide for rent plot in 1997. Prosecutors argued Glossip paid Justin Sneed to beat his boss, Berry Van Treese to death.
Glossip, who has maintained his innocence, sits on death row awaiting his execution date for a fourth time. But his authorized workforce, greater than 30 state lawmakers and two dozen legal professionals working pro-bono on his case, say a brand new 340 web page report may get him off death row for good.
“This was not some kind of bizarre murder for hire plot like the prosecution presented,” Don Knight mentioned.
Knight has been Glossip’s legal professional since 2015. Glossip has been scheduled to be executed thrice nevertheless it continues to be delayed for quite a lot of causes.
In 2015, Knight and his protection workforce say they discovered new witnesses and proof proving his innocence. It satisfied two judges on the court docket of legal appeals, who voted for a listening to, nevertheless it wasn’t sufficient to persuade the bulk. That’s when the state scheduled Glossip’s third execution date.
“He survived that execution because of the wrong drug purchased by the state of Oklahoma and then the long moratorium began.”
During that moratorium, Knight and his protection workforce set to work dedicating greater than 5,000 hours of professional bono time to attempt to show Glossip’s innocence.
Knight gathered a number of new witnesses and despatched the brand new proof to any lawmakers who would pay attention. It caught the eye of a number of together with consultant Kevin McDugle.
In an try and get nearer to the reality he and some different legislators referred to as for an unbiased investigation by a legislation agency in houston.
“They weren’t for the prosecutor and they weren’t for the defense and I think that’s what helped them really get down to the bottom of this. They were able to put together an outstanding document,” rep. McDugle mentioned.
The investigation led to a prolonged 340-page report with new proof Knight says proves Glossip’s innocence.
“If all of the evidence had been presented to a jury, no reasonable juror would have convicted Richard Glossip in this case.”
According to McDugle, the report finds that interview tapes present detectives main suspects to offer solutions that he says matches the prosecutor’s narrative. They additionally say Justine Sneed was given a plea deal for pointing the finger at glossip. It additionally mentions that the DA’s workplace threw-out a field of proof that would have exonerated Glossip earlier than his second trial.
“Richard Glossip has now been behind bars because of the gross misconduct of the DA’s office and the investigation,” rep. McDugle mentioned.
While Glossip’s Clemency listening to is about for August 10, Knight and his workforce are nonetheless ready to see if their petition will result in a court docket listening to.
“Anyone who reads that report would come to the same conclusion that this is a terrible case and killing this man without looking at evidence would be a terrible injustice,” Knight mentioned.
2 News has reached out to the Oklahoma Attorney General’s workplace 4 occasions within the last week to get their response to the newest report, however we haven’t heard again.
Knight tells 2 News the AG’s workplace has acknowledged the proof and suggested the court docket of appeals to not rule till it’s reviewed. For now, Glossip is about to die September 22.
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