Following Court Denial, Attorney Is ‘Optimistic’ Final Appeal Will Deter Death Sentence

The attorney representing death row inmate Richard Glossip said they are “optimistic” their final appeal for a new hearing will prevail. 

“Our fight to free this innocent man will continue, and we remain optimistic that truth and justice will prevail, both for Rich and the citizens of Oklahoma,” said Don Knight, attorney for Richard Glossip. 

Glossip is convicted of hiring Justin Sneed to kill Oklahoma City hotel owner Barry Van Treese in 1997. Glossip has claimed he is innocent of the crime from death row for 25 years. 

On Thursday, the Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals denied one of Glossip’s two requests for a hearing to present new evidence. Justices unanimously agreed that “there is no evidence that Sneed has ever sought to recant his testimony in any meaningful way.” 

Glossip claims Sneed framed him in the murder-for-hire plot to avoid the death penalty. Sneed is serving a life sentence. 

More than 60 lawmakers have voiced support for Glossip’s request for an evidentiary hearing, including pro-death penalty Rep. Kevin McDugle. 

McDugle has said he will push to end the death penalty in Oklahoma if the state kills Glossip, which is scheduled to happen on February 16. 

“(If) they put Richard to death, then I fully believe we've killed an innocent man in Oklahoma,” McDugle said. “So with that being the case, then I will have to do all I can to push for a new system.” 

Knight claims there is evidence that Sneed wanted to recant his testimony against Glossip before trial, and is hopeful the court will accept their second petition for a hearing. 

“We still have another petition pending with the Court setting forth Sneed’s desire to recant his testimony against Rich and, most shockingly, documenting the prosecutor’s serious misconduct in coaching Sneed to change his testimony in the middle of trial,” Knight said in a statement Thursday. 

The Oklahoma Attorney General’s office interviewed Sneed in July 2022, during which he maintained his account of Glossip hiring him for the murder. 

Glossip “was talking about setting me up to be management of one other Mr. Van Treese’s motels,” Sneed told an agent with the AGO, according to a transcript obtained by News 9. “He was telling me to think of everything that I could do for my daughters and my family with the money.” 

The office also interviewed multiple inmates who lived with or nearby Sneed in prison. 

Michael Scott, an inmate incarcerated in the same block as Sneed, told an agent that he “overheard” Sneed say he “set Richard Glossip up” to avoid the death penalty. 

“It was common knowledge within at least A-Unit,” Scott told an agent, according to an interview transcript. 

Glossip will have a hearing before the Oklahoma Pardon & Parole board in January.