The Supreme Court docket on Tuesday dismissed an Oklahoma loss of life row inmate’s conviction saying prosecutors withheld essential proof throughout his homicide trial, however a authorized skilled says the uncommon transfer shouldn’t be interpreted as any form of shift by the best court docket on loss of life penalty circumstances.
The nation’s highest court docket reversed a decrease court docket’s ruling that had upheld loss of life row inmate Richard Glossip’s homicide conviction and allowed his deliberate execution to maneuver ahead.
In a 5-3 determination, the justices discovered that Glossip’s trial violated his “constitutional obligation to correct false testimony” and that “Glossip is entitled to a new trial,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote within the majority opinion.
The win is definitely uncommon and noteworthy by this court docket however “it’s not a bellwether,” for future circumstances, Elisabeth Semel, a professor and co-director of the Dying Penalty Clinic on the College of California’s Berkeley Faculty of Regulation, informed NewsNation.
“It doesn’t mean some form of shift within the courts that one way or the other the court docket we thought was conservative has turn into much less conservative,” she added.
The Supreme Court docket holds a agency 6 to three majority conservative-leaning so what may be deduced about this case is that the info had been so “profoundly outrageous” that even a court docket that has traditionally been hostile to loss of life penalty circumstances has dominated in favor of this defendant, Semel defined.
Richard Glossip’s Conviction
Glossip was convicted and sentenced to loss of life within the 1997 killing in Oklahoma Metropolis of his former boss, motel proprietor Barry Van Treese, in what prosecutors have alleged was a murder-for-hire scheme.
The prosecution’s star witness was Glossip’s co-defendant, Justin Sneed, who admitted to robbing and killing Van Treese however testified he solely did so after Glossip promised to pay him $10,000.
Sneed obtained a life sentence in change for his testimony and was the important thing witness in opposition to Glossip.
Interesting Glossip’s conviction
Glossip’s attorneys argued that prosecutors knew Sneed lied on the witness stand about his psychiatric situation and his motive for taking the mood-stabilizing drug lithium. Sneed had additionally falsely testified that he had by no means seen a psychiatrist.
In 2023, Republican State Legal professional Common Gentner Drummond mentioned new proof persuaded him that Glossip’s trial was not truthful. Drummond has mentioned he doesn’t imagine Glossip is harmless and has instructed he might face a brand new trial.
“What makes the case particularly unusual is not its these violations, meaning prosecutors concealing exculpatory evidence or putting on false testimony, it’s that the state’s highest prosecutor conceded those egregious violations,” Semel mentioned.
Clearly that carried weight with the Supreme Court docket, she added.
Broader loss of life penalty implications unlikely
Semel provides that as a result of the info of this case are so distinctive, it’s unclear if it’s going to have broader implications with decrease courts or with the Supreme Court docket.
“I do not suppose it portends a lot concerning the court docket whenever you see circumstances with info which might be so profoundly outrageous, that it’s going to convey a lot hope to defendants in circumstances, even circumstances which might be additionally outrageous, the place had there have been severe violations, however that aren’t similar to the case by which the Court docket granted aid,” she mentioned.
The sufferer’s household mentioned they continue to be “confident that when that new trial is held, the jury will return the same verdict as in the first two trials: Guilty of first degree murder,” Paul Cassell, an lawyer for the Van Treese household, mentioned in an announcement to NewsNation.
However Glossip’s lawyer mentioned the ruling was a “victory for justice and fairness in our judicial system.”
“Wealthy Glossip, who has maintained his innocence for 27 years, will now be given the possibility to have the truthful trial that he has at all times been denied,” Don Knight, an lawyer for Glossip mentioned in an announcement, after the ruling.
What’s subsequent for Richard Glossip?
Glossip, who presently is housed on the most safety Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, is anticipated to stay imprisoned till prosecutors resolve whether or not to retry him, mentioned Phil Bacharach, a spokesman Drummond.
Oklahoma County District Legal professional Vicki Behenna mentioned she plans to debate with Drummond what is going to occur subsequent. Behenna has beforehand mentioned she wouldn’t take into account the loss of life penalty within the case.
What’s most “sobering” concerning the case, Semel mentioned, is how near execution Glossip had gotten through the years, narrowly lacking loss of life at one level attributable to a drug mix-up.
Oklahoma has set execution dates 9 instances for Glossip.
“Had things gone ‘according to plan’, he would be dead, and this would be another case that never saw the light of day in terms of the kind of relief he’s now been granted,” Semel mentioned.
The Related Press contributed to this story.
