4 ms·

Oklahoma Court: We Want Richard Glossip Dead and Evidence Be Damned

39 points by indigodaddy 4y ago

Bran_son 4y ago
> No physical evidence linked Glossip, the motel’s live-in manager, to the crime. Instead, the case against him was built almost exclusively on the testimony of a 19-year-old maintenance man named Justin Sneed, who admitted to bludgeoning Van Treese to death but said it was all Glossip’s idea. In exchange for testifying against Glossip, Sneed avoided the death penalty and was sentenced to life without parole. Glossip has always insisted on his innocence, and, over the last decade, evidence that he was wrongly convicted has steadily mounted. > Much of this evidence supports Glossip’s contention that Sneed — a chronic drug user who demonstrated unpredictable bouts of violence — carried out the crime and only later set up Glossip as the mastermind. New witnesses have come forward to counter the state’s portrayal of Sneed as a hapless dolt who took direction from Glossip, testifying that Sneed was cunning, manipulative, and quite capable of killing a man on his own.
sterlind 4y ago
It's amazing to me that the Attorney General himself thinks he might be innocent and wants the case retried, but the court just doesn't care? And the evidence looks incredibly flimsy. I'm fascinated that the court would just double down like this.
- pixl97 4y ago
  Elected judges don't go about looking weak on crime in OK. They also don't point out their system may have made mistakes. The fact that anyone can look at the judicial system in the US and think that the death penalty is a good idea is insanity to me.
  - jfengel 4y ago
    Governors as well. This would be an excellent use of the pardon, deliberately designed as a check on judicial power. But in this case they are both bloodthirsty.
  - Nasrudith 4y ago
    And of course judges decisions are sancrosanct regardless of proven wrongs. The judge belongs swinging from the gallows more than the accused.
foxyv 4y ago
A reminder, if you are looking for a cause to donate to, please consider the Innocence Project. https://innocenceproject.org/ https://innocenceproject.org/
yellowapple 4y ago
> “Because Glossip has not made the requisite showing of likely success” in further appeals or “irreparable harm” from any denial of his claims, “he is not entitled to stay of execution,” the justices wrote. In what multiverse is an innocent man being executed not "irreparable harm"? Are the judges claiming they can raise the defendant from the dead after needlessly killing him?
- ROTMetro 4y ago
  Welcome to the American Justice system. In the Feds, you only have 14 days from sentencing to appeal a sentence. It used to be unlimited, but that was clogging up the courts because too many convicted people were exercising their constitutional rights, so they took it down to 14 days (or 30 days if you are the Government prosecutors because some animals are more equal than others). https://www.justice.gov/jm/jm-2-4000-time-appeal-or-petition-review-or-certiorari https://www.justice.gov/jm/jm-2-4000-time-appeal-or-petition... A lot of those 14 days get taken up with time in holding cells being moved from the Courthouse to a Federal Detention Center (or contracted local jail), moved from the pretrial holding facility to your final place of incarceration via Diesel Therapy, etc. If you are lucky you will get access to a law library, paper pad maybe an hour a day, but the Supreme Court has rules that is enough to fulfill your constitutional right to 'access to the courts'. You also need to figure out how to get the law library to weight your mail to put correct postage and get the certified mail forms, and to the jail/prison mail room during their 'open house' hours (normally 1-2 hours and at the same time lunch is served so you might not be eating lunch that day if you are at a place with controlled movements) so that you can send legal mail to mail your appeal (and how to come up with stamps to send certified mail to the Court and Prosecutor). Edit: Getting stamps includes waiting for the once weekly commissary day to order them, and then potentially waiting for commissary to be delivered to your cell (shucks, it's delivered after the mail room open house 1-2 hour window) so that's up to a 9 day loss of time just to get stamps/envelopes after the appeal is written in triplicate (Court, Prosecutor, personal copy) so you can weigh it and know how many stamps you need to purchase.
  - avar 4y ago
    Aren't you cherry picking cases where the defendant chose to represent himself? Otherwise wouldn't their legal council handle the timely filing of an appeal?
ksaun 4y ago
Update: the Supreme Court has halted his scheduled May 18th execution (while they consider his requests for an appeal). https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-halts-execution-oklahoma-inmate-glossip-2023-05-05/ https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-halts-executi...

39 points by indigodaddy 4y ago

> No physical evidence linked Glossip, the motel’s live-in manager, to the crime. Instead, the case against him was built almost exclusively on the testimony of a 19-year-old maintenance man named Justin Sneed, who admitted to bludgeoning Van Treese to death but said it was all Glossip’s idea. In exchange for testifying against Glossip, Sneed avoided the death penalty and was sentenced to life without parole. Glossip has always insisted on his innocence, and, over the last decade, evidence that he was wrongly convicted has steadily mounted. > Much of this evidence supports Glossip’s contention that Sneed — a chronic drug user who demonstrated unpredictable bouts of violence — carried out the crime and only later set up Glossip as the mastermind. New witnesses have come forward to counter the state’s portrayal of Sneed as a hapless dolt who took direction from Glossip, testifying that Sneed was cunning, manipulative, and quite capable of killing a man on his own.

sterlind 4y ago

It's amazing to me that the Attorney General himself thinks he might be innocent and wants the case retried, but the court just doesn't care? And the evidence looks incredibly flimsy. I'm fascinated that the court would just double down like this.

pixl97 4y ago
Elected judges don't go about looking weak on crime in OK. They also don't point out their system may have made mistakes. The fact that anyone can look at the judicial system in the US and think that the death penalty is a good idea is insanity to me.
- jfengel 4y ago
  Governors as well. This would be an excellent use of the pardon, deliberately designed as a check on judicial power. But in this case they are both bloodthirsty.
- Nasrudith 4y ago
  And of course judges decisions are sancrosanct regardless of proven wrongs. The judge belongs swinging from the gallows more than the accused.

foxyv 4y ago

A reminder, if you are looking for a cause to donate to, please consider the Innocence Project. https://innocenceproject.org/ https://innocenceproject.org/

yellowapple 4y ago

> “Because Glossip has not made the requisite showing of likely success” in further appeals or “irreparable harm” from any denial of his claims, “he is not entitled to stay of execution,” the justices wrote. In what multiverse is an innocent man being executed not "irreparable harm"? Are the judges claiming they can raise the defendant from the dead after needlessly killing him?

ROTMetro 4y ago
Welcome to the American Justice system. In the Feds, you only have 14 days from sentencing to appeal a sentence. It used to be unlimited, but that was clogging up the courts because too many convicted people were exercising their constitutional rights, so they took it down to 14 days (or 30 days if you are the Government prosecutors because some animals are more equal than others). https://www.justice.gov/jm/jm-2-4000-time-appeal-or-petition-review-or-certiorari https://www.justice.gov/jm/jm-2-4000-time-appeal-or-petition... A lot of those 14 days get taken up with time in holding cells being moved from the Courthouse to a Federal Detention Center (or contracted local jail), moved from the pretrial holding facility to your final place of incarceration via Diesel Therapy, etc. If you are lucky you will get access to a law library, paper pad maybe an hour a day, but the Supreme Court has rules that is enough to fulfill your constitutional right to 'access to the courts'. You also need to figure out how to get the law library to weight your mail to put correct postage and get the certified mail forms, and to the jail/prison mail room during their 'open house' hours (normally 1-2 hours and at the same time lunch is served so you might not be eating lunch that day if you are at a place with controlled movements) so that you can send legal mail to mail your appeal (and how to come up with stamps to send certified mail to the Court and Prosecutor). Edit: Getting stamps includes waiting for the once weekly commissary day to order them, and then potentially waiting for commissary to be delivered to your cell (shucks, it's delivered after the mail room open house 1-2 hour window) so that's up to a 9 day loss of time just to get stamps/envelopes after the appeal is written in triplicate (Court, Prosecutor, personal copy) so you can weigh it and know how many stamps you need to purchase.
- avar 4y ago
  Aren't you cherry picking cases where the defendant chose to represent himself? Otherwise wouldn't their legal council handle the timely filing of an appeal?

ksaun 4y ago

Update: the Supreme Court has halted his scheduled May 18th execution (while they consider his requests for an appeal). https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-halts-execution-oklahoma-inmate-glossip-2023-05-05/ https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-halts-executi...