A former death row inmate who came within moments of execution on three separate occasions has been granted bond by an Oklahoma judge while he awaits a new trial for a 1997 murder case.
Richard Glossip, 63, will have the opportunity to walk free for the first time in nearly three decades following his arrest. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction last year, and his persistent declarations of innocence have garnered backing from celebrities including Kim Kardashian.
Judge Natalie Mai set the bond amount at $500,000. Glossip will be required to wear electronic monitoring equipment and cannot leave Oklahoma. Additional conditions prohibit him from contacting case witnesses or using drugs or alcohol.
The 63-year-old had received a death sentence for the 1997 murder of Barry Van Treese, his former employer who owned a motel in Oklahoma City. Prosecutors claimed the killing was part of a murder-for-hire plot.
Last year, the Supreme Court determined that prosecutors violated Glossip’s constitutional rights to fair proceedings by permitting a crucial witness to provide testimony they were aware was dishonest.
Glossip has stayed incarcerated since Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond declared the state’s intention to pursue a new murder trial without seeking capital punishment.
“The court fully expects that the state will rigorously prosecute its case going forward and the defense will provide robust representation for Glossip,” the judge wrote in the order. “The court hopes that a new trial, free of error, will provided all interested parties and the citizens of Oklahoma, the closure they deserve.”
Throughout his death row tenure, Oklahoma courts scheduled nine separate execution dates for Glossip, bringing him so close to death that he consumed three final meals. In 2015, prison officials placed him in a holding cell adjacent to the execution chamber, preparing for lethal injection.
However, his scheduled execution was postponed when officials discovered the lethal drugs they had obtained did not comply with established execution procedures. This pharmaceutical error resulted in Oklahoma suspending executions for nearly seven years.
“Mr. Glossip now has the chance to taste freedom while his defense team continues to pursue justice on his behalf against a system that the United States Supreme Court has found to be guilty of serious misconduct by state prosecutors,” his attorney, Donald Knight, said.
The case gained worldwide recognition when actress Susan Sarandon, who earned an Academy Award for playing death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean in the 1995 film “Dead Man Walking,” championed his cause. Glossip’s situation was also highlighted in the 2017 documentary “Killing Richard Glossip.”
