Supreme Court hears Oklahoma death penalty case in which state and inmate agree conviction should be tossed
The Supreme Court weighs whether inmate Richard Glossip's murder conviction should be thrown out — an unusual death penalty case in which the attorney general of Oklahoma has sided with a defendant.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday will weigh whether inmate Richard Glossip's murder conviction should be thrown out — an unusual death penalty case in which the attorney general of Oklahoma has sided with a defendant.
Glossip, who is now 61, was convicted of arranging for the murder in 1997 of his boss at the Oklahoma City motel where they worked.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican, made the rare decision to back Glossip’s appeal following an investigation into the case. The state has stopped short of agreeing with Glossip’s claim that he is innocent.
If Glossip wins, the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority that generally backs the death penalty, would order that his conviction be thrown out and the case sent back to a lower court for a new trial.
Richard Glossip.Oklahoma Dept of Corrections / via Reuters file The Supreme Court previously signaled an interest in Glossip's case by stepping in last year to prevent him from being executed. The court also blocked Glossip's execution in 2015 in separate litigation over the state's lethal injection procedure.
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