‘SO MANY DOUBTS’

Oklahoma Court Clears the Way for Inmate’s Execution Over GOP AG’s Pleas

Richard Glossip has long maintained he was framed for the 1997 beating death of his employer, an Oklahoma City motel owner.

A high-profile death row inmate in Oklahoma whose case has long been dogged by concerns and mounting evidence that he may have been wrongly convicted was denied another appeal to vacate his murder conviction. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals’ five justices agreed unanimously that there was “no legal or factual ground which would require relief” in Richard Glossip’s case. The court refused to delay Glossip’s execution any further, setting a date—his ninth—in May. Glossip, now 60, has been behind bars for the last quarter-century, and has always maintained that he was framed for the 1997 beating death of his employer, an Oklahoma City motel owner. The decision to uphold his conviction comes despite Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s petition for Glossip to be granted a new trial. “While I respect the Court of Criminal Appeals’ opinion, I am not willing to allow an execution to proceed despite so many doubts,” Drummond, a Republican, said in a statement. “Ensuring the integrity of the death penalty demands complete certainty.”