Governor Kevin Stitt Orders Second Reprieve in Richard Glossip Case
Oklahoma City — Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt issued an Executive Order on Wednesday (November 2) for a second reprieve in the case of death row prisoner Richard Glossip, citing the ongoing need to allow for the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to complete its review of a petition for a new hearing.
The Governor’s Order stays Glossip’s execution until February 16, 2023.
The Executive Order is here: https://tinyurl.com/uh6tfyjs.
Glossip’s attorney and the Republican state legislator leading the effort to secure a new hearing for Glossip released statements concerning the case.
Don Knight, Richard Glossip’s attorney, said in a statement provided to CapitolBeatOK.com:
“We are extremely grateful to Governor Stitt for once again issuing a 60-day reprieve for Richard Glossip, to assure that the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals [OCCA] can fully address the innocence and prosecutorial misconduct claims they are now reviewing. We are also so appreciative of the tremendous support Rich has received from the 62 Legislators who signed the letter asking the OCCA to grant Rich an evidentiary hearing, and from Representatives McDugle and Humphrey’s ad hoc committee, whose investigators, the global law firm Reed Smith, continue to work pro bono for the people of Oklahoma.
“The newly uncovered evidence shows a concerted effort by the State to destroy and hide evidence that is favorable to Rich, even to this day, and, most shockingly, to manufacture trial testimony they needed to convict him. There is now overwhelming support for what Reed Smith has concluded after its thorough investigation — that no reasonable juror who heard all the evidence would find him guilty. The defense team will continue to work to overturn this wrongful conviction and give Rich the fair trial he never received.”
Oklahoma State Representative Kevin McDugle, R-Broken Arrow, the leader of the Ad Hoc Legislative Committee said in his comments:
“On behalf of the 62 Oklahoma legislators who signed a request for an evidentiary hearing based on new evidence, I am thankful for Governor Stitt’s wise decision to grant Richard Glossip a 60-day reprieve, to give the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals time to complete its work. Every new day brings more evidence of Mr. Glossip’s innocence, and it is our hope that the OCCA rejects the Attorney General’s bogus arguments, which I have refuted …, and comes to the only just conclusion possible — that a new trial is warranted.
“Oklahomans — including both those who support and oppose the death penalty — will not tolerate Mr. Glossip being executed while there is so much proof that the police and District Attorney lost and destroyed important evidence, wrongfully altered critical testimony, and continue to purposely hide evidence to this day.
“This is a great example of how Governor Stitt is tough but fair-minded. In the face of this overwhelming evidence now, more than ever, I urge the OCCA to either reverse his conviction entirely or quickly grant the full evidentiary hearing that his attorneys have requested. This is the only way to begin to right this terrible wrong.”
Reed Smith, the independent law firm working with the Oklahoma Legislative Ad Hoc Committee, recently issued a fourth supplemental report with expert testimony recommending that the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals agrees to a new evidentiary hearing.
This is the sixth time Glossip has had an execution date stayed or reprieved. He has previously been served his last meal three separate times, and in one instance was moments away from being put to death before his execution was again put off, this time due to the State procuring the wrong drug for the lethal injection.