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Pope Francis and Sir Richard Branson appeal for Oklahoma inmate's life Oklahoma governor stays execution of Richard Glossip amid drug concerns
(about 3 hours later)
For the second time this week, a representative for Pope Francis has asked a US state to call off an execution. Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin has issued a stay of execution for Richard Glossip amid concerns over one of the drugs to be used to put him to death.
A letter from Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano sent to Governor Mary Fallin of Oklahoma on behalf of Pope Francis urges her to commute the death sentence of Richard Glossip, who is set to be executed on Wednesday afternoon. The letter from the pope’s representative in the US is dated 19 September, but was released on Wednesday by the governor’s office. The order came an hour after the US supreme court denied a last-minute appeal alleging that new evidence showed Glossip, a convicted murderer, was framed.
The letter says a commutation “would give clearer witness to the value and dignity of every person’s life”.
JUST IN: Here's the letter @Pontifex sent to Gov. Fallin regarding today's execution of #RichardGlossip @NEWS9 pic.twitter.com/JN1xJdpdwY
Billionaire investor Sir Richard Branson also released a letter in support of Glossip on Wednesday, buying an ad in the Oklahoman newspaper, which has advocated in support of the execution.
“This is not about the rights and wrongs of the death penalty. This is about every person deserving a fair trial,” Branson wrote. “Richard Glossip has not received this.”
“Your state is about to execute a man whose guilt has not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”
On Monday, Vigano released a letter to the Georgia board of pardons and paroles, also on behalf of the pope, urging the board to grant clemency for Kelly Renee Gissendaner, the only woman on the state’s death row. Gissendaner was executed at 12.21am on Wednesday.
During an address to the US Congress last week, the pope called on the United States to abolish the death penalty. One of Glossip’s most high-profile supporters is a Catholic nun, Sister Helen Prejean, who has been urging the state to hear new evidence of his possible innocence.
Related: Oklahoma death row inmate's supporters: 'He's just such a good man'Related: Oklahoma death row inmate's supporters: 'He's just such a good man'
A spokesman for Fallin said the governor does not have the authority to grant a commutation. Fallin has repeatedly denied Glossip’s request for a 60-day stay of execution and said in a statement on Tuesday she has no plans to stop the punishment. “Last-minute questions were raised about Oklahoma’s execution protocol and the chemicals used for lethal injection,” Fallin said in her order.
Glossip was convicted of orchestrating the beating death of Barry Van Treese, the owner of the Oklahoma City motel where Glossip worked. But Glossip claims he was framed by the actual killer, Justin Sneed, who is serving a life sentence and was the state’s key witness against Glossip in two separate trials. She said the state had concerns over the third drug in the state’s lethal injection protocol, and that the department of corrections received potassium acetate instead of potassium chloride.
Fallin set a new execution date for 37 days from now, on 6 November. After an earlier stay of execution on 16 September so a court could weigh new evidence of his innocence, it was the second time in two weeks that Glossip came within minutes of being executed.
Glossip had challenged the constitutionality of another drug in the cocktail, midazolam, which last year was used in the botched execution of Oklahoma inmate Clayton Lockett, who writhed on a gurney for 43 minutes before dying. The US supreme court ruled against Glossip’s challenge in June.
The department of corrections took few questions at a hastily arranged press conference inside the media center.
Oklahoma has two executions scheduled next month. Benjamin Cole is scheduled to die on 7 October, and John Grant on 28 October. Both were Glossip’s co-defendants in the US supreme court case challenging midazolam. Terri Watkins, a department of corrections spokeswoman, said the department had not yet sought a stay of execution in either case.
Oklahoma, like many other death penalty states, keeps secret the source of its execution drugs. In Virginia, a federal court on Wednesday postponed the execution of Alfredo Prieto while his lawyers challenged the source of pentobarbitol which had been given to the state by the Texas department of corrections.
In Georgia, Kelly Gissendaner was executed early Wednesday morning after the US supreme court rejected her claim that she would be subject to cruel and unusual punishment without knowing the source of the drugs the state would use to put her to death. Her earlier scheduled execution was called off at the last minute when the drug, pentobarbitol, appeared “cloudy”.
Outside the prison in McAlester, Glossip’s family had been visibly upset at hearing of the supreme court’s refusal to issue a reprieve, local media reported. Attorney Don Knight told the crowd: “There’s nothing more we can do ... Everyone knows. The world knows that Richard Glossip is innocent.”
Upon hearing of the say, the family turned to celebration and gathered to pray.
Family praying, thanking God for the stay. "You answered our prayers." #Glossip pic.twitter.com/0jhnStZEHh
In her statement, the governor issued her “sincerest apologies” to the Van Treese family, “who has waited so long”.
A supporter of Van Treese, Glossip’s boss, called the stay “horrible” according to a local CBS reporter. “Unthinkable emotional turmoil heaped on the Van Treese family to wait till last minute.”
About 30 people had also gathered in front of the Oklahoma governor’s mansion to protest the execution.
The protesters held signs that read “Don’t Kill For Me, Stop Executions” and “Save Richard Glossip”.
Glossip, who has maintained his innocence, was convicted twice of orchestrating the beating death of Barry Van Treese, the owner of the Oklahoma City motel where Glossip worked. But Glossip claims he was framed by Justin Sneed, who is serving a life sentence and was the state’s key witness against Glossip in two separate trials.
Just hours before Glossip was originally to be put to death on 16 September the Oklahoma court of criminal appeals granted a two-week reprieve to review his claims of new evidence in the case, including another inmate’s assertion that he overheard Sneed admit to framing Glossip.Just hours before Glossip was originally to be put to death on 16 September the Oklahoma court of criminal appeals granted a two-week reprieve to review his claims of new evidence in the case, including another inmate’s assertion that he overheard Sneed admit to framing Glossip.
In a 3-2 decision earlier this week, the same court denied Glossip’s request for a new hearing and paved the way for his execution to proceed.
On Tuesday, Glossip’s attorneys made a last-ditch request to both the US supreme court and Governor Fallin to issue a stay of execution.
Related: Manufacturer demands return of drug to be used in Virginia execution
“Recently discovered evidence demonstrates substantial doubt about Sneed’s credibility,” his attorneys wrote in a petition to the supreme court.
Glossip was the lead plaintiff in a separate case in which his attorneys argued the sedative midazolam did not adequately render an inmate unconscious before the second and third drugs were administered. They said that presented a substantial risk of violating the eighth amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. But in June the justices voted 5-4 that the sedative’s use was constitutional.
Oklahoma first used midazolam last year in the execution of Clayton Lockett, who writhed on the gurney, moaned and clenched his teeth for several minutes before prison officials tried to halt the process. He died 43 minutes after the sedative was first injected.
The state then increased by five times the amount of midazolam it uses and executed Charles Warner in January. He complained of a burning sensation but showed no other obvious signs of physical distress.