In what CNN calls an "unprecedented step," Oklahoma's attorney general on Wednesday appeared before the state's parole board to lobby for clemency for Richard Glossip. The board wasn't swayed. It voted 2-2 to not recommend that Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt grant Glossip clemency, meaning the request was denied. The 60-year-old's execution is scheduled for May 18. Attorney General Gentner Drummond—who commissioned a special investigation into the case that found "multiple and cumulative errors"—did not argue that Glossip is innocent but told the board that moving forward with the execution would be a "grave injustice."
Handyman Justin Sneed admitted to fatally beating motel owner Barry Van Treese in 1997, but claimed he did so at the direction of Glossip, the motel manager, who agreed to pay him $10,000. Sneed received a life sentence in exchange for his testimony against Glossip. But Glossip's lawyers point to letters in which Sneed suggested he wanted to walk back his testimony, and Drummond says he can no longer stand behind Glossip's conviction and death sentence, which "is not to say I believe he is innocent." But "I do not believe that justice is served by executing a man based on the testimony of a compromised witness." The AP notes the Supreme Court has yet to weigh in on a petition to stop the execution. (More Richard Glossip stories.)
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