“We are grateful to the Supreme Court for issuing this stay,” said Reed Smith partner David Weiss, who co-leads the firm’s independent investigation into Glossip’s case. That investigation, commissioned last year by a committee of Oklahoma lawmakers, has concluded that “no reasonable juror hearing the complete record would have convicted Glossip.”
“For an execution to proceed after the state has confessed error would be unthinkable,” Weiss said. “We greatly appreciate Attorney General Drummond’s careful consideration in this case and his continuing pursuit of justice for Richard Glossip.”
Glossip’s defense has further filed a new petition with the Supreme Court challenging the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals’ recent denial of its request to have his conviction overturned in light of new information that became available only after Drummond authorized its release upon taking office. The prior attorney general refused to release the material. In response, the state confessed error and joined Glossip’s request that the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) vacate the conviction, but the OCCA denied the request. The State of Oklahoma has indicated that it will support this new Supreme Court petition and confess error before the high court.
The stay issued today remains in place while the Supreme Court decides whether to grant certiorari in response to Glossip’s petitions. If so, the stay will remain in place until the justices decide the case on the merits. However, if they deny certiorari on both the pending petitions, then the stay will be lifted.
Reed Smith began its independent, third-party investigation into Glossip’s case in February 2022. Working with lawyers from Jackson Walker and Crowe & Dunlevy, a Reed Smith team of more than 30 lawyers, three investigators and two paralegals have devoted more than 4,000 hours, pro bono, to this investigation.
The team has since released five addendums to its initial report detailing additional findings in the ongoing investigation, including evidence withheld by state prosecutors for 25 years and only released after Drummond took office.
The team’s full report (pdf, June 16, 2022), executive summary (pdf, July 21, 2022), first supplemental report (pdf, Aug. 9, 2022), second supplemental report (pdf, Aug. 23, 2022), third supplemental report (pdf, Sept. 20, 2022), fourth supplemental report (pdf, Oct. 18, 2022), and fifth supplemental report (pdf, March 27, 2023) are available to the public.
Read Attorney General Drummond’s filing (pdf, May 1, 2023) in the U.S. Supreme Court.
For more information about Reed Smith’s ongoing investigation, please read our previous releases:
- 4 May 2023: Oklahoma attorney general urges stay of execution for Richard Glossip
- 7 April 2023: Oklahoma AG requests to vacate Richard Glossip death row conviction
- 27 March 2023: Reed Smith Glossip investigation releases new findings from evidence withheld by the State for 25 years
- 18 October 2022: Reed Smith’s Glossip investigation supplemented with report on attorney ethics and professional responsibilities
- 20 September 2022: Reed Smith augments Richard Glossip report with further new findings
- 23 August 2022: Reed Smith updates Richard Glossip report with new findings
- 9 August 2022: Reed Smith updates Richard Glossip report with new information
- 21 July 2022: Reed Smith issues summary of independent investigation in Glossip case
- 15 June 2022: Reed Smith investigation into Glossip death row case raises grave concerns
- 22 February 2022: Oklahoma legislators request Reed Smith independently examine Richard Glossip case