Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has filed a motion to vacate the conviction of death row inmate Richard Glossip. The motion to dismiss comes after an independent review of “Box 8” a box of evidence that the State withheld from Glossip’s defense team.
Drummond said the following about the motion in a statement “after thorough and serious deliberation, I have concluded that I cannot stand behind the murder conviction and death sentence of Richard Glossip,” he said. “This is not to say I believe he is innocent. However, it is critical that Oklahomans have absolute faith that the death penalty is administered fairly and with certainty. Considering everything I know about this case, I do not believe that justice is served by executing a man based on the testimony of a compromised witness.”
Glossip was charged and convicted of the 1st-degree murder of Barry Van Treese in a murder-for-hire conviction after the man who murdered Van Treese testified against Glossip. The statement gave information about the Glossip case saying “The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals later overturned Glossip’s conviction for ineffective assistance of counsel. He was convicted and sentenced to death again at a 2004 retrial.”
The independent report was completed on April 6th and came after a bipartisan group of Oklahoma Lawmakers stated that they believed Glossip was innocent.
