By Leslie Acevedo and Maria Pia Matos
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Defense Attorney Don Knight released a statement for his client, Richard Glossip, after OK Attorney General Gentner Frederick Drummond said the state is, as of late last week, appointing an independent counsel to review Glossip’s death penalty case.
Drummond announced the decision to undertake the Glossip probe the same week a court granted a Drummond motion about the death penalty in general in the state, rescheduling seven executions and postponing 13 additional dates well into the future.
Knight explained the Glossip decision by noting, “New evidence uncovered since 2015 shows conclusively, as the first independent investigation by Reed Smith found, that no reasonable juror who viewed all the evidence would find Mr. Glossip guilty of murder for hire.”
Noting he was confident the new investigation will conclude Glossip—who has faced nine execution dates—is innocent, Knight added, “We look forward to fully cooperating with Rex Duncan so that he can complete his work as expeditiously as possible, and the State can begin to right this terrible wrong.”
Glossip, an Oklahoma death row inmate for 24 years, despite what his legal team claims: “It is not disputed that another man, Justin Sneed, murdered Barry Van Treese.”
Glossip has maintained his innocence, as his conviction is based, argues his defense, on “[s]tatements made by Justin Sneed that it now clearly appears he wanted to recant.”
Gov. J. Kevin Stitt granted a 60-day reprieve for Glossip, stating his execution had been set for Sept. 22, 2022, to “[a]llow time for the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to address a pending legal proceeding” on Aug. 16, 2022. Gov. Stitt on Nov. 2, 2022, granted an additional 60 days to accommodate continued legal proceedings for Feb. 16, 2023.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals issued opinions denying Glossip’s two applications of post-conviction relief, without letting him introduce new evidence, despite “[r]equests of sixty-two state legislators, including 45 Republicans, who backed a call for an evidentiary hearing based on newly-discovered evidence,” on Nov. 10 and Nov. 17.
The defense maintains witness Justin Sneed talked about recanting his testimony over the course of 11 years, both before and after Glossip’s second trial, according to newly-discovered evidence.
The defense claims Sneed asked his attorney in a handwritten note, “Do I have the choice of recanting at any time during my life?” and a second note stated that his testimony was “a mistake” and Sneed’s recanting could have led to a different outcome in the trial, which relied heavily on his testimony as part of a plea deal that spared Sneed his own death sentence.
The investigation, the defense added, also included a series of conversations Sneed had with Reed Smith lawyers in late August and early September, during which he conceded that he had previously denied talking to his mother and daughter about recanting over the years.
The Glossip defense team insists the original trial prosecutor collaborated behind the scenes with Sneed’s lawyer during Glossip’s trial to improperly provide Sneed with information before he testified.
According to a memo recently found in the district attorney’s office, argues the defense, this appears to be an improper, but successful, attempt to persuade Sneed to change his testimony on a crucial piece of evidence.
Despite being required to reveal information during the trial, this note had been kept from Glossip’s team until September 2022, the defense said.
