Richard Gossip was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1997 death of a hotel owner. Gossip’s conviction is questioned because the only witness in the case was Justin Sneed, the actual killer. Sneed confessed to beating the hotel owner to death with a baseball bat but claimed Gossip offered him $10,000 to commit the crime.
Scores of people gathered in the Oklahoma state Capitol building on Tuesday to protest the execution of a man they believe is innocent.
"Richard Glossip’s case cries out for deeper, moral consideration, because it raises the specter of an actually innocent man being executed for a crime he did not commit, based on the testimony of only one man, the man who actually killed the victim," Sister Helen Prejean, a nun known for her memoir Dead Man Walking and Glossip's spiritual adviser, said. "Human rights are inalienable. They’re not given by government — and they shouldn’t be taken away."
Gathering more than 31,000 signatures, the crowd turned in a petition to Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin asking for Glossip’s execution to be suspended.
“It’s a peculiar distortion of justice that the actual killer will likely die of natural causes in a minimum-security prison, while Richard faces death," Mark Henricksen, one of Glossip’s attorneys, added.
Sneed's daughter, O'Ryan Justine Sneed, claims that her father wishes “he could recant his testimony,” in a letter to Oklahoma's clemency board in October, cited the Huffington Post.
"For a couple of years now, my father has been talking to me about recanting his original testimony. But has been afraid to act upon it, in fear of being charged with the Death Penalty," reads the letter obtained by the Post. "His fear of recanting, but guilt about not doing so, makes it obvious that information he is sitting on would exonerate Mr. Glossip."
On Monday, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt filed to stop the execution of Glossip and two other inmates after the state’s execution procedure came under scrutiny last April for its lethal injection methods.
Glossip expressed relief after hearing that the Supreme Court will review his case.
“It’s the first time in a long time that I let myself get a little more excited than normal," he told HuffPost "I finally got a victory. A small victory — but it uplifted me."
In a statement emailed to HuffPost, the governor’s office indicated that she would not make an effort to stay Glossip's execution. “The only legal action available to the governor is to grant a stay of up to sixty days. Because the attorney general has already requested a stay from the Supreme Court, no further action needs to be taken by the governor at this time,” Communications Director Alex Weintz said, adding that the governor did indeed receive the petition.
