Reed Smith Glossip investigation releases new findings from evidence withheld by the State for 25 years

March 28, 2023

OKLAHOMA CITY – Reed Smith today released the Fifth Supplemental Report in its ongoing independent investigation into the case of Richard Glossip, an inmate on death row in Oklahoma since 1997.

The latest supplemental report discusses, in detail, several new findings, including Brady material contained in a box of evidence (Box 8) from the District Attorney’s Office Case Files. This evidence from Box 8 had previously been withheld by the State and was only made available in February 2023 after Oklahoma’s new Attorney General, Gentner Drummond, took office.

The supplemental report includes additional findings in response to questions raised by the State’s recently appointed Independent Counsel, including an analysis from a leading Oklahoma professor of attorney ethics and professional responsibilities supporting the firm’s findings regarding irregularities in the proceedings against Glossip, including whether:

  • An Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals’ Judge should have disclosed and recused himself due to his prior work relationship with the Glossip trial prosecutor (when her conduct was at issue in the last post-conviction petition); and
  • A former Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board member should have recused herself from Glossip’s 2014 clemency hearing due to her prior working relationship with the Glossip trial prosecutor.

Specifically, Reed Smith’s Fifth Supplemental Report includes:

  • A thorough examination of all recently discovered evidence found in Box 8.
  • An accounting of the $1,757 that was in Richard Glossip’s possession when the police arrested him on January 9, 1997, based in part on the new evidence contained in Box 8, which casts significant doubt on the State’s theory of why the money was the fruits of the crime argued at the 2004 trial.
  • An analysis of Box 8 in relation to prosecutorial obligations under the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court guidance, which require the State and its prosecutors to (1) turn over all exculpatory or impeachment evidence to the defense (in re Brady v. Maryland); and (2) correct the record and false testimony by the State’s star witness in a criminal case (as obligated by Napue v. Illinois).

Read the full press release from Reed Smith LLP.