A former Oklahoma death row prisoner freed after nearly 30 years behind bars is due back in court as his long-running case moves toward a new trial in a 1997 killing that brought him within hours of execution on three occasions.
Richard Glossip’s original conviction was thrown out by the US Supreme Court last year, and a state judge ordered his release on bond last month.
At Tuesday’s hearing, the court is expected to decide whether the case will move directly to a retrial or whether Glossip will first receive a new proceeding to assess whether prosecutors have sufficient evidence to continue.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has said the state intends to try Glossip again on a murder charge, but will not seek the death penalty this time.
Glossip was sentenced to death for the 1997 killing of his former employer, Oklahoma City motel owner Barry Van Treese, who was beaten to death with a baseball bat in what prosecutors described as a murder-for-hire plot.
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Last year, the Supreme Court found that prosecutors violated Glossip’s constitutional right to a fair trial by allowing a central witness to offer testimony they knew was false.
Glossip has consistently insisted he is innocent, and his case has attracted backing from high-profile supporters, including Kim Kardashian.
Van Treese’s family had urged the Supreme Court to uphold Glossip’s conviction and death sentence.
During Glossip’s time on death row, Oklahoma courts set nine different execution dates for him.
He came so close to being put to death that he ate three separate last meals.
In 2015, he was even held in a cell next to Oklahoma’s execution chamber, waiting to be strapped to a gurney and die by lethal injection.
