Oklahoma AG calls for a new trial of death row inmates

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An Oklahoma man whose execution was postponed several times by the state, including three close calls in which he consumed his “last meals,” has found an unlikely ally in his effort to overturn his murder conviction.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican, claims prosecutors hid evidence in the trial of Richard Glossip for the 1997 murder of his boss.

Glossip’s lawyers will argue before the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday for a new trial against the judges.

“If he is executed, I believe it will be a travesty of justice,” Drummond said in an interview with Reuters.

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Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is calling for a new trial of death row inmate Richard Glossip. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP, file)

Glossip, now 61, was convicted of the murder in 1998, but an appeals court overturned that conviction based on an ineffective defense. After a second trial in 2004, he was found guilty of first-degree murder.

“After an extensive independent investigation, I believe it is clear that prosecutors committed a Brady violation by failing to share potentially exculpatory evidence with the defendant and violated Napue (Napue v. Illinois) by knowingly allowing false testimony. that prevented the defendant from receiving a fair trial. Drummond said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Glossip has maintained his innocence in the 1997 Oklahoma City murder of his former boss, motel owner Barry Van Treese. Another man, Justin Snee admitted to robbing and killing Van Treese, but testified that he only did so after Glossip promised to pay him $10,000.

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Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond testifies at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing (REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo)

Sneed received a life sentence in exchange for his testimony and was the key witness against Glossip.

“Oklahomos deserve absolute confidence that the death penalty will be carried out fairly and with certainty,” Drummond said. “I do not believe justice is served by executing a man based on the testimony of a compromised witness.”

Drummond does not believe Glossip is innocent, but says he did not receive a fair trial. One of his concerns is that prosecutors knew Sneed had lied on the witness stand about his psychiatric condition and his reason for taking the mood-stabilizing drug lithium.

The lead prosecutor also cited a box of evidence in the case that was destroyed, including motel receipts, a shower curtain and tape that Glossip’s attorney Don Knight said could have potentially proven Glossip’s innocence.

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In the years since he was sentenced to death, Glossip’s execution date has been changed nine times, he has been given three “last meals” and he has been married twice.

Fox News Digital has contacted the Oklahoma County Prosecutor’s Office.

Among those who remain convinced of Glossip’s guilt is the former Oklahoma County district attorney David Prater, who has reviewed Glossip’s case several times and urged the state Pardon and Parole Board to deny leniency to him even though the original case was prosecuted by his predecessors.

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“I went through that case more than once and looked at everything there was, and there was nothing that caused me to have any doubt about the integrity of that conviction and that death sentence,” Prater told the AP.

A decision is expected early summer.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.