OK Court of Appeals sets execution date for Richard Glossip

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KSWO) - The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has scheduled a new execution date for death row inmate Richard Glossip, following a stay of execution issued by Governor Kevin Stitt in November of 2022.

Glossip has been on death row for 25 years, but his execution has been halted numerous times.

READ | Oklahoma death row inmate granted a stay of execution

He was originally scheduled to be executed on Sept. 16, 2015, for arranging the 1997 beating death of Barry Alan Van Treese of Lawton.

Another man, Justin Sneed, confessed to the murder but claimed Glossip hired him to kill the Van Treese.

Because of Sneed’s testimony, Glossip was sentenced to death, while Sneed

The court halted the execution to give judges more time to review a lengthy death penalty challenge, claiming Glossip’s innocence.

READ | Oklahoma death row inmate challenges new execution date

His second execution date was set for Sept. 30, forcing Glossip’s attorneys to file a motion stating the new execution date cannot be set before the court dissolves its previous stay, and that it must be set either 30 or 60 days afterward.

As Glossip and his attorneys awaited an answer from the U.S. Supreme Court on the motion, then-Governor Mary Fallin issued a stay of execution to give state officials time to address questions about the state’s execution protocols.

READ | Trial over lethal injection underway in Oklahoma City

As questions about the state’s execution protocol continued, a group of death row inmates filed a lawsuit stating the lethal injection protocol causes unconstitutional pain and suffering and all executions were halted until 2021.

READ | Execution date set for Oklahoma death row inmate

However, in June of 2022, a federal judge upheld Oklahoma’s lethal-injection protocol and Glossip was scheduled for a new date, Sept. 22.

Glossip’s lawyers rushed to his defense, offering up newly uncovered evidence to prove his innocence, and this time the case had more national attention.

READ | OK Lawmakers call for a new hearing in death row inmate case

In August 2022, more than 60 Oklahoma Lawmakers joined Glossip and his lawyers as they called for a new evidentiary hearing to present after a recent investigation by a Texas law firm released a report suggesting evidence in Glossip’s trial may have been lost or destroyed.

READ | Governor Stitt issues temporary stay of execution for Richard Glossip

Later that month, Governor Kevin Stitt granted Glossip yet another temporary stay of execution, in order to give the Court of Criminal Appeals time to review his case.

The 60-day stay pushed his execution to early December and also pushed back his scheduled clemency hearing.

READ | Richard Glossip execution delayed by Gov. Stitt

However, Glossip was not executed in December, after Governor Stitt announced a new stay of execution, while the Court of Criminal Appeals continued to review new evidence.

Glossip’s execution is currently set for Feb. 16 at 10 a.m.