OKLAHOMA CITY – Four months after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a new trial for former death row inmate Richard Glossip, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond indicated his office currently does not plan to dismiss the existing first-degree murder charges filed against Glossip for the 1997 beating death of Barry Van Treese. Drummond said his office is not seeking the death penalty against Glossip because the man who admitted to murdering Van Treese with a baseball bat is serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
Oklahoma County District Judge Heather Coyle set Glossip’s next court date for June 17.
Drummond had fought for a new trial after admitting prosecutorial misconduct tainted Glossip’s earlier conviction. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled in his favor, and Drummond’s office has spent the intervening weeks assessing the evidence and interviewing witnesses to determine how best to deliver justice for the Van Treese family.
Drummond vowed that the accused will receive a fair trial this time around.
“While it was clear to me and to the U.S. Supreme Court that Mr. Glossip did not receive a fair trial, I have never proclaimed his innocence,” Drummond said. “After the high court remanded the matter back to district court, my office thoroughly reviewed the merits of the case against Richard Glossip and concluded that sufficient evidence exists to secure a murder conviction. The same United States Constitution that guarantees our rights also ensures the rights of the accused. Unlike past prosecutors who allowed a key witness to lie on the stand, my office will make sure Mr. Glossip receives a fair trial based on hard facts, solid evidence and truthful testimony.”
Glossip was initially charged with accessory to murder in January 1997, after the murder of his boss, Oklahoma City motel owner Barry Van Treese. An employee of Glossip’s, Justin Sneed, confessed to beating Van Treese to death in a room at the motel, but testified that Glossip – who had admitted to helping cover up the killing – paid him to do it.
Sneed received a sentence of life in prison without parole. Glossip was sentenced to death for first-degree murder.
Drummond ordered an independent review of the case shortly after he took office as attorney general in 2023. After that report found multiple instances of trial error casting doubt on the fundamental fairness of the conviction, Drummond filed a motion with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) to set aside Glossip’s conviction and remand the case back to district court. Despite the State’s confession of error, the OCCA rejected the request.
Glossip v. Oklahoma then went to the U.S. Supreme Court. In February, the justices affirmed Drummond’s conclusion that prosecutors had committed a Napue violation by knowingly allowing false testimony that prevented Glossip from receiving a fair trial.
In court testimony, Sneed had wrongly claimed he was not receiving medical treatment for mental issues when prosecutors knew he had been prescribed lithium for a psychiatric condition. Evidence indicates prosecutors knew or should have known the testimony was false but allowed it to stand.
Drummond is seeking a sentence of life in prison for Glossip, who has already served 27 years behind bars. The Attorney General noted that prosecutors review a host of factors in any criminal case to determine the most appropriate punishment to pursue.
“The Van Treese family has endured grief, pain and frustration since the murder of their loved one, and my heart goes out to them,” he said. “The poor judgment and previous misconduct of past prosecutors have only compounded that pain and frustration. While I cannot go back 25 years and handle the case in the proper way that would have ensured true justice, I still have a duty to seek the justice that is available today.”
Glossip, like every person arrested or charged, is presumed innocent unless and until convicted of a crime in a court of law
