USA-OKLAHOMA/EXECUTION-FILE Oklahoma to execute convicted murderer who challenged injection mix

Record ID: 135448

  • Title: USA-OKLAHOMA/EXECUTION-FILE Oklahoma to execute convicted murderer who challenged injection mix
  • Date: 16th September 2015
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES (FILE - JUNE 29, 2015) (REUTERS) WIDE SHOT OF SUPREME COURT OF DEMONSTRATORS IN FOREGROUND DEMONSTRATORS WITH BANNER THAT SAYS "STOP STATE KILLING" DEMONSTRATORS WITH TABLE SET-UP WITH PAMPHLETS CLOSE-UP OF ANTI-DEATH PENALTY HANDOUTS CLOSE-UP OF ANTI-DEATH PENALTY BUTTONS DEMONSTRATORS IN FRONT OF TABLE IN FRONT OF SUPREME COURT
  • Embargoed: 1st October 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA23VLJOIQCI1FI8I9IORBIWC5V
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Oklahoma plans to execute on Wednesday (September 16) a convicted murderer who tried unsuccessfully to have the U.S. Supreme Court rule that one of the drugs used in the state's lethal injection mix can cause undue harm and suffering.
    Richard Glossip is set to be put to death at 3 p.m. at the state's death chamber in McAlester. His lawyers have launched a last-minute campaign to halt the execution, saying they have new evidence that points to his innocence.
    Glossip, 52, was found guilty of arranging the 1997 murder of the owner of an Oklahoma City motel he was managing.
    Governor Mary Fallin, a Republican, said on Tuesday (September 15) her legal team examined the evidence and determined it was neither new nor substantial enough to warrant a stay of execution.
    His lawyers said no physical evidence tied Glossip to the crime and he was convicted largely on the testimony of Justin Sneed, then 19, who confessed to carrying out the killing and said Glossip hired him to do it. Sneed is serving a life sentence and avoided the death penalty by testifying against Glossip.
    Barry Van Treese, owner of the Best Budget Inn, was bludgeoned to death in 1997. Glossip was convicted and sentenced to death in 1998, and the decision was upheld on appeal.
    His lawyers have sought stays of execution from Oklahoma and federal courts.
    Glossip's execution would be the first in Oklahoma since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that the use of midazolam, a sedative used in the lethal injection procedure, did not violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
    Lawyers for Glossip and two other Oklahoma death row inmates had challenged the use of midazolam, saying it could not achieve the level of unconsciousness required for surgery, making it unsuitable for executions.
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