Who is Richard Glossip and what did he do?

Washington (AP) – The Supreme Court eliminated on Tuesday the conviction for murder and death penalty for Richard Glossip, a Oklahoma The man who has firmly maintained his innocence and avoided multiple attempts from the State to execute it.

The judges found that Glossip’s trial violated their constitutional rights because prosecutors did not give evidence that their defense could have reinforced.

“Glossip has the right to a new trial,” Judge Sonia Sotomayor wrote for five judges.

Judges Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dismit, voting to defend the conviction and the death sentence, while Judge Amy Roney Barrett would have allowed a state court of appeals to decide how to proceed.

Judge Neil Gorsuch did not participate in the case, presumably because he participated in him in an earlier stage when he was a judge of the Court of Appeals.

The judges heard arguments in October in a case that produced a rare alliance in which Glossip lawyers and the State argued that the Superior Court should revoke Glossip’s conviction and the death sentence because he did not receive a fair trial.

The victim’s relatives had told the Superior Court that they want to see Glossip executed.

Oklahoma’s most important criminal appeals had repeatedly confirmed the conviction and sentence, even after the State put on the side of Glossip.

Glossip was convicted and convicted of death in the 1997 murder in the city of Oklahoma of his former boss, the owner of the motel, Barry Van Trese, in which the prosecutors have alleged that it was a rental murder plan.

Glossip has always maintained his innocence. Another man, Justin Sneed, admitted to having stolen Van Treese and hit him to death with a baseball bat, but testified that he only did it after Glossip promised to pay him $ 10,000. Sneed received a life imprisonment in exchange for his testimony and was the key witness against Glossip.

In 2023, State Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican, said the new evidence persuaded him that Glossip ‘trial was not fair. Drummond has said he does not believe that Glossip is innocent and has suggested that he could face a new trial.

If Glossip were tried again, the death penalty would be out of the table, said Oklahoma County District prosecutor, Vicki Zemp Behenna, Democrat.

Among Drummond’s concerns are that prosecutors knew that Sneed lied in the witness post about their psychiatric condition and their reason to take the lithium of drug stabilizer from mood. Drummond has also cited an evidence box in the case that was destroyed, including motel receipts, a shower curtain and a masking tape that Glossip’s lawyer, Don Knight, said he could have been the innocence of potentially proven Glossip .

At least five judges voted last year to block efforts to execute Glossip while his case was developed.

That was just the last respite for a internal who has eaten three “last meals” and has married twice while waiting for execution. Oklahoma has established execution dates nine times for Glossip.

The Court faced two legal issues, if Glossip’s rights were violated because the evidence was not delivered and if the Oklahoma Court’s decision defended the conviction and the sentence, achieved after the position of the State changed, it should be able to stand up .

The judges issued their most recent order that blocks Glossip’s execution last year. They previously arrested their execution in 2015, then ruled against a 5-4 vote to defend Oklahoma’s lethal injection process. Glossip avoided the execution only due to a confusion in the drugs that should be used.

Glossip was initially convicted in 1998, but won a new trial ordered by a State Court of Appeals. He was sentenced again in 2004.