Supreme Court throws out death sentence, murder conviction of Okla. death row inmate
The Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out the murder conviction and death penalty for Richard Glossip, an Oklahoma man who has been on death row for more than 25 years.
The court found that Glossip’s trial violated his constitutional rights. It reversed the Oklahoma state court’s judgement and sent the case back for a new trial.
The majority opinion was written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the opinion in part. Justices Clarence Thomas dissented and was joined by Justices Samuel Alito and Barrett in part. Justice Neil Gorsuch did not participate in this case.
At issue was a remarkable true-crime drama that pit Oklahoma’s attorney general against the state’s highest court for criminal appeals. The question before the court was whether the state court wrongly refused to accept the attorney general’s findings that Glossip was entitled to a new trial.
Glossip has been on death row for more than 25 years. In that time, he has been tried and convicted twice and has lost multiple appeals, including one at the Supreme Court.
This is a developing story and will be updated
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