Court ruling gives Richard Glossip new path after decades on death row

Richard Glossip left jail under a $500,000 bond and strict supervision, a rare reversal for a man who spent nearly three decades on Oklahoma’s death row after a conviction the U.S. Supreme Court said was poisoned by false testimony and prosecutorial failure. The case has become a national test of whether the justice system can catch unreliable evidence before it drives a man through repeated death sentences.

The case began with the January 1997 killing of Barry Van Treese at an Oklahoma City motel where Glossip worked as manager. Justin Sneed admitted beating Van Treese to death with a baseball bat and later testified that Glossip paid him to do it. Glossip has always denied ordering the killing. In its February 25, 2025 ruling, the Supreme Court said Sneed’s testimony was the only direct evidence connecting Glossip to the murder, and that the rest of the state’s case only weakly backed it up. The court also said prosecutors failed to correct false testimony and that additional misconduct undermined confidence in the verdict.

That ruling landed on a case already marked by deep doubt inside Oklahoma. A bipartisan group of legislators commissioned an independent Reed Smith investigation, which reported in June 2022 that there was “grave doubt” about Glossip’s conviction and that key evidence had been destroyed. After the Supreme Court decision, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in June 2025 that the state would retry Glossip for first-degree murder but would not seek the death penalty again. That decision changed the stakes of the case before a jury ever hears it again: the state can still try to convict, but it can no longer pursue execution.

On May 14, 2026, Oklahoma County District Judge Natalie Mai set Glossip’s bond and ordered him to live with his wife, Lea Glossip, wear an electronic monitoring device, observe a 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew, and remain in Oklahoma. It was the first time he was cleared to leave jail since his 1997 arrest. He had been convicted twice, sentenced to death twice, had nine execution dates set, and received three last meals; in 2015, he was held in a cell next to Oklahoma’s execution chamber before getting a stay.

Supporters say the ruling marks a step toward correcting a long-running miscarriage of justice. Barry Van Treese’s widow attended an April 2026 hearing and said a new trial would force her to relive the loss of her husband. Glossip’s next court appearance is set for June 23, 2026.