Oklahoma City – State Representative Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, praised the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-3 decision to “remand” the case of death row prisoner Richard Glossip to Oklahoma County for new legal proceedings.
In a press release sent to CityNewsOKC, CityNewsTulsa , and other news organizations on Tuesday (February 25), Humphrey said:
State Representative Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, praised this week’s U.S. Supreme Court remanding (returning) the case of death row prisoner Richard Glossip to Oklahoma County.
Official Legislative Photo
“I and all the others fighting for justice for Richard Glossip are proud of the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“I believe the Richard Glossip case being remanded back to trial speaks volumes to our Oklahoma Court system.”
Humphrey, a key conservative leader in working to press for major changes in the administration of the Ultimate Sanction in the state, continued:
“This case encompasses many, many problems in our court system, beginning with prosecutorial abuse and criminal misconduct. In addition, we need to be asking how is it possible that our appellate court system, the state’s Pardon and Parole Board and the governor all failed to consider the overwhelming evidence of this case that should have kept them from condemning Richard to death.”
In his first statement issued after the 5-3 decision, Humphrey concluded:
U.S. Supreme Court photo by Jennifer Hall, Facebook 2015.
“The Supreme Court’s decision makes it clear that Oklahoma needs to look at our entire criminal justice system and take appropriate action to correct the numerous injustices that currently exist. This is not a time to stick out our chest and brag, but it is a time that we should humbly review how it is possible for this to have happened in the first place.”
Sketching the background of the Glossip conviction and subsequent events
Groups and individuals as varied as leaders of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and elected officials in both major political parties in Oklahoma and across the nation have scrutinized the procedural issues touching on the death penalty in Oklahoma over recent years.
A bi-partisan Death Penalty Review Commission provided a long catalog of fundamental flaws in the state’s process.
Some, but not all, of the Commission’s proposed reforms have been enacted in recent sessions of the Legislature, and signed into law by the governor.
In recent years, a major legislative push for a new critical look at the Glossip case emerged in the Republican House caucus.
A Texas law firm provided Oklahomans, in excruciating detail, a rising tide of documentation of prosecutorial misconduct in the original prosecution of Glossip for the murder of Barry van Treese.
Colorado attorney Don Knight worked in coalition with a bi-partisan cohort of state legislators to encourage a fresh look. State Attorney General Gentner Drummond employed an independent counsel (a strong conservative) to catalogue and analyze legal problems in the conviction, and the scheduled execution of Glossip, who repeatedly avoided execution due to a jumbled state system of protocols.
Knight and his team documented, repeatedly, that Justin Sneed, admitted killer of Van Treese, had lied persistently that the Van Treese murder was a contract killing master-minded by Glossip.
Governor Kevin Stitt, a strong supporter of the death penalty, used executive authority to allow time for Knight’s defense team as the most recent appeals continued.
Before the nation’s High Court, the state of Oklahoma “confessed error” in the Glossip process. The government admitted prosecutors had withheld exculpatory evidence (information raising doubts about the prosecution’s theory of the case) from defense lawyers.
In recent proceedings, arguments before the Court included presentations for and against Glossip’s position from all interested parties, including legal arguments on behalf of the Van Treese family.
Justice Neal Gorsuch recused himself in the case.
He had previously participated in Tenth Circuit Court deliberations in lengthy journey of Glossip, convicted in the murder of Oklahoma City hotelier Van Treese, through state and higher courts.
Justice Sotomayor’s majority opinion was supported Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson (the Court’s junior member), and by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Justice Amy Coney Barett dissented on relatively narrow grounds while concurring in part, while Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas (the court’s senior member) dissented in full from the outcome.
As the case now returns to Oklahoma, all comments from Oklahoma County District Attorney Vickie Behenna and some from state A.G. Drummond make it seem unlikely Glossip will be retried.
However, in reflections on Tuesday he said all options are under consideration.
NOTES: Patrick B. McGuigan, editor emeritus, and Darla Shelden, as senior reporter, have written dozens of stories on the Glossip case over the past decade. To study their past reporting, search the archives of CityNewsOKC.com.
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