Supreme Court throws out Richard Glossip death sentence, orders new trial in Oklahoma killing

The Supreme Court on Tuesday scrapped the death penalty sentence and murder conviction of Oklahoma’s Richard Glossip and called for a new trial.Glossip was first convicted in 1998 over the murder of motel owner Barry Van Treese, his former boss.Defense attorneys argued that prosecutors did not fork over important evidence that could have changed the outcome of the case.“We conclude that the prosecution violated its constitutional obligation to correct false testimony,” liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the majority opinion.

“Glossip is entitled to a new trial.”After Republican Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond took office in 2023, he reviewed the state’s death row cases and concluded that Glossip did not receive a fair trial either of the first two times he came before a jury.Neither side had wanted to defend a lower court ruling rejecting Glossip’s pleas for a new trial, so the Supreme Court had tapped Christopher Michel, a former clerk to Chief Justice John Roberts, to argue the case against a new trial during oral arguments last year.This is a developing story.Please check back for updates....