Yesterday, Oklahoma death row inhabitant Richard Glossip, given a new trial after nearly three decades on death row, was granted bond, laying the groundwork for his first release from prison since 1997. Richard Glossip, 63, was arrested that year in the killing of his former boss, Barry Van Treese. After numerous legal challenges, execution dates, up to receiving his last meal, Glossip was finally presented with a path out of incarceration. 

Glossip, who had just taken his first steps of freedom from an Oklahoma jail, told gathered reporters he was thankful for his wife and his attorneys, adding he is “just really happy. It’s overwhelming, but it’s amazing at the same time,” he said.

Oklahoma County District Judge Natalie Mai wrote in the order that “the Court finds it cannot deny bail to Glossip,” based partially on a 2023 letter by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond acknowledging the evidence “does not support that he is guilty of first degree murder beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The United States Supreme Court decision (Glossip v. Oklahoma) to overturn Glossip’s conviction and death sentence last year marked a major turning point in his decades-long legal battle. The court ordered his case be retried in Oklahoma, finding that prosecutors failed to correct false testimony in his 1998 trial that may have influenced the jury. That false testimony came from Van Treese’s actual killer, Justin Sneed, and had they done so, his credibility would have suffered, undercutting his testimony as the state’s star witness.

Sneed was sentenced to life without parole in exchange for his guilty plea and testimony against Glossip. His testimony was the sole evidence linking Glossip to the murder.

“That correction would have revealed to the jury not just that Sneed was untrustworthy (as amicus points out, the jury already knew he repeatedly lied to the police), but also that Sneed was willing to lie to them under oath,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the majority in the SCOTUS opinion.

Glossip was convicted twice of capital murder. He maintained his innocence throughout his time on Oklahoma’s death row, which saw him narrowly avoid execution three separate times. Nine execution dates were scheduled for him in total. In one instance, an execution was called off after correctional officers had already strapped Glossip to a gurney and begun preparing to give him a lethal injection. 

“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,” said Glossip’s attorney, Donald Knight, in a statement to The Associated Press on Thursday.