OAN Staff Avril Elfie
2:35pm – Wednesday, October 9, 2024
The Supreme Court appears divided over Richard Glossip's Oklahoma death penalty case and his recent efforts to seek freedom.
advertisement
On Wednesday, the court heard arguments in a death row case that left Glossip's fate uncertain.
After being convicted, Glossip was sentenced to death for the 1997 murder of motel owner Barry Van Trees. Although everyone agrees that Glossip did not kill Van Trees, state prosecutors say Glossip paid and hired a maintenance worker named Justin Snead to carry out the murder plot. He claimed to have organized the murder.
But Glossip violated his right to due process by withholding evidence from the defense and intentionally allowing Snead, a key witness, to misrepresent himself to the jury. It is asking the high court to consider whether it did so.
The state's Republican attorney general has called Glossip's case “unfair and unreliable,” making it unlikely the state will become an ally.
The nearly two-hour argument highlighted differences among the justices on issues such as the weight of new evidence and whether the appeal should be heard by the high court.
Glossip execution will be temporarily stopped.
Mr. Glossip's attorney, Seth Waxman, argued Wednesday that Mr. Glossip was convicted based solely on “one man's word.”
He was also found guilty after the state of Oklahoma revealed evidence showing that in 2022, Snead lied to a jury about receiving a prescription for lithium to treat undiagnosed bipolar disorder. He argued that the ruling was broken. Bipolar disorder was a condition that state prosecutors were aware of but had not corrected.
A similar argument was made by Paul Clement, who argued that an independent investigation ordered by Attorney General Gentner Drummond (R-Okla.) revealed an obligation on the part of the attorney general to admit that he was wrong.
“Drummond did not lightly confess his error here,” Clement said.
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas questioned the weight and veracity of the new evidence.
Thomas said Oklahoma prosecutors weren't given enough time to mount a defense, and Alito said the memo showing the state knew about Sneed's condition was incredibly “mysterious.” he claimed.
“You rely heavily on the memo, 'Lithium, question mark?' 'Dr. Trumpet, question mark?' And you read that deeply,” Alito wrote in his friend-of-the-court brief, referring to Van. he said, pointing to claims made by the Tories' family. “And you want us to say, 'Well, just pretend they don't exist and read those notes the way you think we should read them. Those cryptic notes, we Read it the way you think it should be read. Because Vann's material, which the Torries' brief relied on, is not in the case record?”
Justice Elena Kagan took the opposite view.
“[Sneed] He was lying in the stands,” Kagan said. “And in a case where the whole case hinged on one person's testimony and its reliability, if you can prove that he lied on the stand… and the prosecutor says, 'Well, that was a lie. 'I'd better correct that…and it doesn't—that seems pretty important to me.'
“So you're the only witness exposed as a liar,” she said.
The justices appointed attorney Christopher Michel to argue the case for Mr. Glossip's conviction and subsequent execution.
In addition to considering whether Oklahoma prosecutors denied Glossip due process, the justices will decide whether the high court has the authority to review the decision of Oklahoma's highest court of criminal appeals. need to.
Liberal justices on Wednesday sharply disagreed with Mr. Michel's statement that he had “no jurisdiction” to review the state court's ruling.
During his argument with Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Michel maintained that the case should be dismissed on jurisdictional grounds. “We've already lost,” Sotomayor said, drawing a sharp look from Chief Justice Roberts and laughter from the other justices.
A ruling on Glossip's lawsuit is expected by summer 2025.
Stay informed. Receive breaking news directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
Advertisement below
Please share this post!
