Glossip v. State of Oklahoma

On Jan. 7, 1997, Justin Sneed beat and stabbed Oklahoma City Best Budget Inn motel owner Barry Van Treese to death at the motel and stole money from the front seat of Mr. Van Treese’s car.

Sneed was captured by the police and eventually admitted to killing Mr. Van Treese. After pressure from the detectives and promises that he would evade the death penalty if he implicated Richard Glossip, who worked as the manager at the Best Budget Inn, Sneed did just that, claiming in an ever-changing story that Glossip had asked him to kill Van Treese in exchange for money.

Due to inadequate defense and improper state conduct, including withholding and destroying evidence and relying on untrustworthy witnesses – such as Sneed – Mr. Glossip was convicted of the murder and sentenced to death by the state of Oklahoma.

Nearly 25 years later, Mr. Glossip is scheduled to be executed on May 18, 2023, despite overwhelming new evidence that Sneed lied, and that Mr. Glossip is innocent.

On Jan. 24, 2023, the Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center filed an amicus brief on behalf of Oklahoma State Rep. Kevin McDugle, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to grant Mr. Glossip’s petition for a writ of certiorari, review the robust evidence of prosecutorial and police misconduct that ultimately led to his wrongful conviction, and reverse the lower court’s decision not to vacate his conviction and death sentence and grant him a new trial.