Oklahoma Court Issues Stay Of Execution For Richard Glossip

The Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals has issued a two-week stay of execution for death row inmate Richard Glossip.

It would have been the first execution carried out by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections since the U.S. Supreme Court in June upheld the state's three-drug formula used in lethal injections.

Glossip, 52, was scheduled to be executed at 3 p.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. The stay by the court was announced before noon.

In its order issued Wednesday, the Court of Criminal Appeals wrote, "Due to Glossip's last minute filing, and in order to for this Court to give fair consideration to the materials included with his subsequent application for post-conviction relief, we hereby grant an emergency stay of execution for two weeks."

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals order

The Court set the new execution date for September 30, 2015.

The Court will consider Glossip's motion for an evidentiary hearing and a motion for discovery.

Glossip was convicted in 1997 of masterminding a plan to have his boss, motel owner Barry Van Treese, beaten to death in a murder-for-hire plot.

Gov. Mary Fallin issued the following statement on Wednesday:

“As I have repeatedly said, court is the proper place for Richard Glossip and his legal team to argue the merits of his case," Fallin said. "My office will respect whatever decision the court makes, as we have throughout this process. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Van Treese family who has suffered greatly during this long ordeal.”

9/16/15 Related Story: Gov. Fallin Rejects Stay Of Execution For Glossip

Glossip was the lead plaintiff in a case before the nation's high court that argued the sedative midazolam violated the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment because it didn't adequately render an inmate unconscious before the second and third drugs were administered. 

The justices upheld the formula in a 5-4 opinion issued in late June.

Glossip has maintained his innocence, and his attorneys filed a last-minute request for a stay of execution late Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Fallin issued a statement rejecting a stay of execution requested by Glossip's attorneys Monday.

The death-row case has garnered national attention, not just for its significance since the lethal drug ruling, but also because Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon has become an advocate for what she believes is Glossip's innocence.
 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.



9/15/2015 Related Story: Richard Glossip's Attorney Responds To OK Co. DA's Strong Words

6/29/2015 Related Story: Supreme Court Upholds Oklahoma Use Of Sedative Drug In Executions