skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Bulletin: Richard Glossip: Oklahoma; Significant development in looming death penalty case; Fox 25 obtains report detailing destroyed evidence which defence attorneys say could put Glossip case back in federal court. (Glossip has been given a two week stay of execution to produce the "new evidence" his lawyers claim to be seeking); "The detective who transferred the box of evidence was never associated with Glossip’s case. And her report sat apparently unnoticed until the eve of Glossip's execution. That is a troubling prospect says (Oklahoma City defence lawyer Gavin) Isaacs. “It really troubles me; it scares me that Glossip's an innocent man; it scares me that at no time have we known all these things until now.” Isaacs says regardless of what the Oklahoma courts do in the case the issue of destroyed evidence is important enough it could open the door to new federal court appeals. Glossip’s attorneys say they plan to supplement their filing to the Court of Criminal Appeals."
Countdown to Wrongful Conviction Day: Friday, October 2, 2105; 13 days. For information: http://www.aidwyc.org/wcd-2015/
"Oklahoma
City Police released its report detailing the evidence from the murder
of Barry Van Treese at the request of Fox 25. The report was never
provided to attorneys who represented Richard Glossip in his second
trial or his appeals according to his new defense team who received the
report following a Fox 25 Investigation that aired the eve of his scheduled execution. The
1999 police report lists the contents of the box of property marked for
destruction because the appeals were exhausted. In reality, the
appeals process had just begun for Glossip. Listed as contents were:
“one roll of duct tape; one bag with duct tape; one envelope with note;
one bag with glasses; one bag with wallet, knifes [sic], keys; one bag
with white shower curtain; one white box with papers; one deposit book;
two receipt books.” While
the state conceded in the second trial it had no physical evidence
linking Richard Glossip to the motel room murder scene his new defense
team says the police report discovered during the Fox 25 investigation
is a document they had never seen and was never provided to his defense
attorneys. “You're
supposed to preserve it and all of us have a duty as lawyers,
especially the prosecution has a duty to maintain custody of any
evidence that is in any investigation of any criminal offense,” said
Oklahoma City defense attorney Garvin Isaacs. Isaacs is a noted defense
attorney, but he spent part of his career in the prosecutor’s office,
but he is not connected to the Glossip case. Isaacs says the
destruction of evidence is, to say the least, a big deal..........But who ordered the destruction? Police
say no one knows, and it could have been the district attorney’s office
or it could have been a police error. Today’s police policy would
prohibit the destruction of any evidence from a homicide case. The
police department says no one listed on the report is still employed by
the police department, so Fox 25 tracked down the detective whose name
is on the report. She
has since retired but told us she doesn't remember that specific box.
However she said when evidence was marked for destruction, the district
attorney’s office would call a police supervisor who would send her to
get boxes of evidence. She said she never had access to the property
room and someone from the DA’s office would have had to have given her
that specific box and it would have been marked with the case
information and contents. Glossip’s
case had been ruled on, but according to online court records the
destruction of evidence was ordered just days after the appeals court
had ordered the case back to an Oklahoma County courtroom for a “fact
finding” hearing. The
detective who transferred the box of evidence was never associated with
Glossip’s case. And her report sat apparently unnoticed until the eve
of Glossip's execution. That
is a troubling prospect says Isaacs. “It really troubles me; it scares
me that Glossip's an innocent man; it scares me that at no time have we
known all these things until now.” Isaacs
says regardless of what the Oklahoma courts do in the case the issue of
destroyed evidence is important enough it could open the door to new
federal court appeals. Glossip’s attorneys say they plan to supplement
their filing to the Court of Criminal Appeals."
http://www.okcfox.com/story/30067572/new-questions-about-destroyed-evidence-could-put-glossip-case-back-in-federal-court