Glossip’s attorneys make one last ditch effort as Fallin denies stay of execution again

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Richard Glossip is scheduled to die by lethal injection 3:00 p.m. Wednesday at the prison in McAlester.

And, barring any interference from the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, it will happen.

Governor Mary Fallin denied a stay of execution yet again late Tuesday afternoon.

In a press release, Fallin said “We find none of the material to be credible evidence of Richard Glossip’s innocence.”

But, she went on to urge Glossip’s legal team to present the information to a court of law saying “Courts, unlike my office, have the legal authority to grant an indefinite stay of execution of a retrial.”

And, that is exactly what Glossip’s attorneys did Tuesday afternoon, filing what’s called a “successor petition” with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, asking for a hearing.

“We need the court of appeals to say we’ll grant you a hearing,” said Glossip’s attorney, Don Knight. “If we got a new hearing, we would win a trial.”

Glossip’s attorneys have long contended that he never got a fair trial because of the testimony of Justin Sneed.

Sneed admitted that he was the one who actually killed Barry Van Treese back in 1997 but testified that Glossip ordered him to do it.

Glossip’s attorneys said they’ve uncovered new evidence that shows Sneed lied.

Sneed is serving a life sentence.

“Right now, in prison, Justin Sneed is laughing at everybody who’s involved, because they decided to believe him,” Knight said.

We spoke with Glossip by phone last week.

“Just because you had your day in court doesn’t mean they got it right, and that’s unfortunate,” Glossip said.

We asked if he was worried considering Oklahoma’s recent botched execution.

“I’m not, because it doesn’t matter what they’re going to use to execute me. The fact still remains that I’m innocent,” Glossip said. “It doesn’t matter how you do it. Murder is murder no matter how you look at it. It sure isn’t justice.”

Glossip’s niece agreed.

“I want everyone to know he’s innocent,” Billie Jo Ogden said. “He really is innocent, and this is not right.”

Van Treese’s widow, Donna Van Treese, told us earlier this year she is ready for Glossip to die but does not plan on attending the execution.

Also on Tuesday afternoon, NewsChannel 4 obtained letters written by Glossip in 1998 to a couple he met in the Oklahoma County jail, always maintaining his innocence.