His murder conviction was thrown out, but Richard Glossip will stay in prison while he waits for a new trial, judge rules

CNN

4 days ago

A judge on Wednesday denied bond for former Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip, keeping him in custody while he awaits a retrial after the US Supreme Court tossed his conviction and death sentence in the 1997 killing of his former boss, according to court records.
District Judge Heather Coyle said in the order that the 'State has sufficiently shown by clear and convincing evidence that the presumption of the defendant's guilt of a capital offense is great.'
The order comes after a hearing on Glossip's motion to set bond on June 17.
Glossip's attorney declined to comment on the judge's decision Wednesday.
The ruling is the latest twist in the legal saga surrounding Glossip, who has been scheduled for execution nine times and has eaten his last meal three times only to have his execution stayed.
After nearly three decades maintaining his innocence on Oklahoma's death row and the emergence of new evidence in recent years, the US Supreme Court in February tossed Glossip's conviction and death sentence. The Glossip case is arguably the highest-profile death penalty case to reach the court in years.
The court ordered that Glossip receive a new trial, finding prosecutors failed to correct false testimony that may have influenced his jury. Then, Oklahoma prosecutors said last month they would retry the longtime death row inmate a third time for his role in the killing of his former boss.
Since Glossip's 1998 conviction as the alleged orchestrator of a murder-for-hire scheme targeting his boss, Oklahoma City motel owner Barry Van Treese, a raft of issues with his prosecution has surfaced, coinciding with a shift of political winds now at the inmate's back.
The fight to spare Glossip's life – which has drawn national attention – has been largely helmed by pro-death penalty Republicans, most notably Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond: He and others have said it's important Oklahomans have faith the death penalty is fairly administrated, and that Glossip's execution would erode trust in the state's justice system, given the questions surrounding his case.
Drummond in June announced that he intends to pursue a new murder trial against Glossip on a first-degree murder charge. Drummond said that he would seek a sentence of life in prison for Glossip instead of the death penalty.
Allegations surfaced that the state withheld evidence related to its star witness.
Glossip's conviction rested on testimony from Van Treese's actual killer, Justin Sneed, who got a life sentence in exchange for a guilty plea and for testifying against Glossip. Sneed's testimony was the sole evidence linking Glossip, the motel's manager, to the killing.
In its February decision, the Supreme Court found prosecutors had not corrected false testimony Sneed provided at trial; had they, his credibility would have suffered, undercutting his testimony – the lodestar of the prosecution's case.
Years after Sneed's testimony, the state disclosed evidence that Sneed was treated for a serious psychiatric condition. The notes indicate prosecutors knew that Sneed's diagnosis and treatment at the time of Glossip's trial and, according to Glossip's supporters, hid that information from his defense.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNN's Dakin Andone contributed to this report.