The Death Penalty Case That Went Too Far

New York Magazine, August 18, 2022: The Death Penalty Case That Went Too Far

“Nearly ten years into his life sentence for beating a man to death with a baseball bat, Justin Sneed sent a handwritten letter to his lawyer. ‘There are a lot of things that are eating at me,’ he wrote from an Oklahoma prison in 2007. ‘Somethings [sic] I need to clean up.’ He was referring to his testimony fingering Richard Glossip as the mastermind of the murder. ‘It was a mistake reliving this,’ he wrote.

“Sneed wrote the letter not long after the state’s court of criminal appeals voted to uphold Glossip’s conviction after his retrial and death sentence, and he seemed adamant to say more about his testimony, which the state relied upon to convict Glossip both times. (Glossip’s conviction after the first trial was thrown out because his lawyer failed to adequately defend him). ‘If I can’t get in contact with you or anyone who gets your mail, I’m going to try to contact the indigent defense over his case or D.A.’s,’ Sneed told his lawyer. Within days, she wrote back. Rather than reassure Sneed that he had told the truth in court, she reminded him that putting the blame on Glossip was what spared him the death penalty. By insisting on his innocence and demanding a trial, Glossip had made the more costly choice. ‘Mr. Glossip has had two opportunities to save himself and he declined to do so both times,’ she wrote to Sneed.

“These letters were uncovered earlier this month, adding to a growing pile of evidence pointing to Glossip’s innocence. But the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office is determined to move forward with his execution, scheduled for December 8. ‘Nothing has changed in the last seven years,’ the state asserted in a pleading it filed, referring to Glossip’s 2015 attempt to have the appellate court intervene. ‘Not the facts, not the law, and not Petitioner’s guilt.’

“Glossip, 59, has a powerful and unlikely ally who believes otherwise: Kevin McDugle, a Republican state representative. If Glossip succeeds in his last-ditch improbable appeal to stave off death, it will be owed, in part, to McDugle’s efforts. A former Marine who served three tours in combat, McDugle, 55, is conservative to the core, describing himself as a staunch foe of abortion, champion of the Second Amendment, and defender of ‘Christian values.’ And yet McDugle has been on a yearslong crusade to exonerate Glossip and has convinced more than 60 of his colleagues in the state legislature to join with him in demanding that the court order a hearing to explore Glossip’s claims, which include explosive allegations of police and prosecutorial misconduct.”

Additional reading:

The Intercept_, August 20, 2022: Ghosts from the Past: Explosive New Evidence Points to Richard Glossip’s Innocence. Why is Oklahoma Still Trying to Kill Him?

NPR, August 14, 2022: Death row inmate Richard Glossip facing fourth execution date

The New York Times, August 25, 2022: Oklahoma Executes James Coddington Despite Clemency Recommendation

The New York Times, July 1, 2022: Oklahoma Plans to Execute 25 Prisoners in 29 Months