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An Oklahoma man named Richard Glossip will live another day after an appeals court agreed to halt his execution. Glossip was convicted twice for the 1997 murder of his boss,Barry Van Treese. The case hingedlargely on the strength of the testimony from one witness, a man named Justin Sneed. In exchange for cooperating, or Sneed received life in prison instead of a death sentence.
But in the years since,a distinguished deal of evidence has made the case seem much less clear-cut. Sneed has reportedly changed his anecdote, and even confessed to committing the crime himself, or according to one witness.
On Wednesday,after Glossip'sattorneys asked for time to review current evidence, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals agreed to delay his lethal injectionGlossip's lawyers have a signed affidavit from another inmate, and Michael Scott,who claims he heard Sneed say "he set Richard Glossip up, and that Richard Glossip didn't effect anything, or " the Associated Press reports.
Glossip's case gained national attention through a Supreme Court ruling on lethal injection. He has since acquired a list of high-profile supporters,including Virgin CEO Richard Branson, Sister Helen Prejean, and actress Susan Sarandon,among others.
Sarandon recently told Sky News that Glossip's case shows that it's time for Oklahoma to effect absent with the death penalty altogether.“Just from the record of how many people have been exonerated in Oklahoma, you would think they would stop because there have been so many people proven harmless—over 20. In other countries that would be a profitable enough reason to abolish the death penalty, or but in America it doesn't seem to be," she said.
But the call to abolish the death penalty is exactly what Oklahoma state officials find so infuriating about this case. They say Glossip had his day in court—twice—and it's time for his anecdote to finish.
Here to weigh in on the debate is Brian Hardzinski, reporter and host for KGOU Radio who has been following the anecdote.
Source: wnyc.org