Death row inmate Richard Glossip loses again at Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled again against death row inmate Richard Glossip, clearing the way for his execution to proceed as scheduled Feb. 16.

Glossip, 59, became the most high-profile death row inmate in Oklahoma after Gov. Kevin Stitt spared the life of Julius Jones one year ago.

Like Jones, Glossip claims he is innocent.

He is facing execution for the murder of his boss, Oklahoma City motel owner Barry Van Treese. He filed a new challenge to his conviction July 1 and a second new challenge Sept. 22.

The Court of Criminal Appeals rejected the first challenge last week and the second on Thursday.

"The only thing we asked for in our two petitions was a fair hearing on our newly discovered evidence that the jury never heard," his attorney, Don Knight, said. "We are extremely disappointed that instead of giving us this opportunity, the court improperly assumed the role of factfinder, and closed off our opportunity to begin to right this tragic wrong.

"But our fight to free this innocent man will never end."

Glossip claims he was framed.

His boss was found beaten to death in Room 102 of his motel, the Best Budget Inn, on Jan. 7, 1997. Van Treese was 54 and lived in Lawton.

A motel maintenance man, Justin Sneed, confessed to killing Van Treese with a baseball bat. He said Glossip pressured him into doing it and offered him $10,000 as payment. He testified against Glossip at two trials.

Glossip's attorneys claim Sneed actually killed the motel owner during a botched robbery for drug money. They claim he framed Glossip to avoid getting the death penalty himself. They claim Sneed, a meth addict, made admissions in jail and later in prison about framing Glossip and also has talked of recanting his testimony.

They also claim they have new evidence of prosecutorial misconduct involving Sneed.

In rejecting the first challenge, the appeals court concluded "there is no evidence that Sneed has ever sought to recant his testimony in any meaningful way."

In rejecting the second challenge, the appeals court concluded Glossip was barred from alleging prosecutorial misconduct because he already had, or could have, in the past.

The appeals court, though, went on to criticize the misconduct allegations anyway, saying one was based on speculation and three others "have no merit."

"Nothing could be further from the truth," Judge David Lewis wrote in the opinion in reference to one of the misconduct claims.

Glossip was first sent to death row after being convicted in 1998. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ordered a new murder trial because his defense attorney failed to represent him adequately. He was sent to death row again after a 2004 retrial.

Sneed, 45, is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. In interviews this year, he has continued to stand by his statements about Glossip's involvement.

Glossip's attorneys specifically alleged a prosecutor at the retrial had Sneed change his testimony to cover a major flaw in the case after a medical examiner told jurors the victim had been cut.

At the retrial, Sneed testified for the first time that "at one point ... I took my knife out of my pocket and tried to force it through his chest but it didn't go." He had told police he had not used the knife found at the crime scene.

The appeals court pointed out that Sneed was "fully cross-examined regarding his inconsistent testimony regarding the knife."

The appeals court also stated the law does not prevent a prosecutor or a defense attorney from discussing testimony with their witnesses during a trial.

The execution by lethal injection will be carried out at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Glossip still could avoid execution if the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommends clemency and the governor agrees.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Death row inmate Richard Glossip loses again in court