Washington – The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a new trial for an death inmate of Oklahoma's death sentenced to conspire to kill the owner of a motel he handled.
Doubts about Richard Glossip 'guilt have remained for decades.
Twice, the Supreme Court has blocked its execution. The State Attorney General said he also questioned Glossip's guilt.
In a 5-3 decision, the judges set aside their conviction and said that Glossip could have been convicted of a false testimony of a young co-worker who said that Glossip had told him to kill the owner of the motel.
Justin Sneed, the main witness against Glossip, admitted to being under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the 1997 murder. Sneed was declared guilty of stealing the owner of the motel and killing him until death with a baseball bat. He is doing life in prison.
Sneed was also being treated by a psychiatrist when he testified against Glossip, although he denied having received such treatment when he was asked.
This fact was not revealed during the trial, although it was known by prosecutors.
Judge Sonia Sotomayor pointed out this false testimony as a basis to cancel the conviction.
The president of the Supreme Court John G. Roberts Jr. and Judges Elena Kagan, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson agreed completely.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett agreed that the conviction was defective, but said she would send the case back to Oklahoma so that her judges decided the next step.
Judge Clarence Thomas presented a 44 -page dissent to which Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. joined.
The decision of the court “distorts our jurisdiction and imagines a constitutional violation where any happened,” Thomas wrote.
Judge Neil M. Gorsuch did not participate in the decision because he was in the Court of Appeals that he considered the matter before.
Don Knight, a Glossip lawyer, described the decision of “a victory for justice and equity. We are grateful that a clear majority of the Court supports a long -standing precedent precedent that prosecutors cannot hide critical evidence of defenders' lawyers And they cannot remain standing while their witnesses knowing to the jury. “
The failure does not mean that Glossip is released.
State prosecutors believe that Glossip was behind the murder, and will be able to try it again.
“Rich Glossip, who has maintained his innocence for 27 years, will now have the opportunity to have the fair trial that has always been denied,” Knight said.
