NewsNational Politics

Actions

Supreme Court orders new trial for death row inmate Richard Glossip following allegedly flawed conviction

Potential new trial follows allegations of withheld evidence and a contentious appeal process surrounding Glossip's conviction.
Supreme Court-Oklahoma-Execution
Posted
and last updated

The Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for Richard Glossip after Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said an appeals court made a "remarkable and remarkably flawed decision" to uphold his death row conviction and sentence.

The new trial means his previous conviction has been thrown out, and whether prosecutors will try Glossip again remains unclear.

The Supreme Court voted 6-2 in favor of a new trial, with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito voting against it. Justice Neil Gorsuch did not vote.

Glossip was convicted for the 1997 murder of Barry Van Treese. Glossip's conviction depended on the testimony of Justin Sneed, who admitted to fatally beating Van Treese with a baseball bat.

RELATED STORY | Oklahoma death row inmate had three 'last meals.' He's back at Supreme Court in new bid for freedom

Sneed was spared the death penalty in exchange for his testimony against Glossip. But Drummond noted that Sneed gave inconsistent testimony when Glossip was tried.

One key piece of evidence allegedly withheld by prosecutors in 2004 was that it was known that Sneed had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and prescribed lithium. Sneed testified that he did not receive medical treatment for mental issues, a claim prosecutors at the time knew was false. That information might have been helpful to Glossip's defense, Drummond argued.

Drummond has contended that prosecutors committed a Brady violation by not sharing potentially exculpatory evidence with Glossip's defense team.

“Dismissing violations of those constitutional bedrocks on the ground that suitably skeptical and intrepid defense counsel should have assumed the government was concealing and prevaricating and gotten to the truth anyways eviscerates those bedrock precedents,” Drummond said in his filing to the Supreme Court. “And the notion that a reasonable factfinder would have ignored evidence that the prosecution’s star witness was suffering from a serious mental illness and committed perjury is equally unfathomable.”

,

Weather

Daily Forecast

View Hourly Forecast

Day

Conditions

HI / LO

Precip

Sunday

03/16/2025

Mostly Cloudy

69° / 48°

1%

Monday

03/17/2025

Showers

59° / 44°

57%

Tuesday

03/18/2025

AM Clouds/PM Sun

61° / 41°

10%

Wednesday

03/19/2025

Mostly Sunny

71° / 46°

5%

Thursday

03/20/2025

Partly Cloudy

65° / 44°

6%

Friday

03/21/2025

Partly Cloudy

67° / 45°

6%

Saturday

03/22/2025

Partly Cloudy

68° / 46°

6%

Sunday

03/23/2025

Partly Cloudy

74° / 50°

6%