The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in a rare capital punishment case that’s seen the Oklahoma attorney general side with death row inmate Richard Glossip‘s request to have his murder conviction overturned due to alleged prosecutorial misconduct.
Glossip, who has been on death row for more than 25 years, has asked the justices to grant him a new trial after the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals upheld his conviction despite recently uncovered evidence that could potentially help his defense. He accused the prosecutors who sought his conviction of withholding that evidence and the attorney general acknowledged the error.
Lawyers for Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond and Glossip, in part, argued before the justices that Glossip’s due process rights had been violated. Because Oklahoma’s attorney general decided to support Glossip’s appeal, the Supreme Court appointed an outside lawyer — private attorney Christopher Michel — to argue on behalf of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals that Glossip’s conviction should be upheld.