Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Bulletin: Richard Glossip's attorneys file new affidavit calling key witness's testimony into question: "Glossip’s attorneys submitted a new affidavit to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday from Joseph Tapley, who said he shared a cell at the Oklahoma County Jail with Sneed for a few months in 1997."..."Tapley, in his affidavit, said Sneed gave him “very detailed” accounts of how he killed Van Treese at the motel where Glossip was the resident manager and Sneed lived on-site as a maintenance worker. “Justin Sneed made it clear to me that he wanted to kill Mr. Van Treese because he told me how hard it was to kill him,” Tapley wrote of the conversations. “He then told me that there was a struggle, and it was really hard to get Mr. Van Treese to die.” According to Tapley’s statement, Sneed never mentioned that Glossip — or anyone else — was involved in the crime...... The new filings include a copy of a news report from KOKH-TV, Oklahoma City’s Fox affiliate. The station reported that evidence in the case was destroyed during Glossip’s first appeal, because something written on the property box indicated his appeals had been exhausted."


Countdown to Wrongful Conviction Day:  Friday, October 2,  2105; 10 days. For information: http://www.aidwyc.org/wcd-2015/

"What's next in the legal fight: Richard Glossip's execution is set for 3 p.m. Sept. 30, but a new round of filings last week in his federal court case, which continues to challenge the constitutionality of using midazolam for lethal injection, could set the date back further. That case is set for a Friday hearing, where his attorneys will argue that more humane alternative lethal injection drugs are obtainable in the state. A hearing has not yet been set in appellate court."

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"A second person who spent time in custody with Justin Sneed, whose testimony helped send Richard Glossip to death row, has signed a sworn affidavit supporting the idea that Sneed acted alone in the 1997 beating death of his and Glossip’s boss at an Oklahoma City motel. That evidence, along with a report claiming documents related to Glossip’s case were wrongly destroyed, shows what Glossip’s attorneys say are serious doubts about their client’s guilt. Glossip’s attorneys submitted a new affidavit to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday from Joseph Tapley, who said he shared a cell at the Oklahoma County Jail with Sneed for a few months in 1997. Also filed this month was an affidavit from Michael G. Scott, who spent time with Sneed at Joseph Harp Correctional Center. Scott alleges that Sneed bragged about sending Glossip “up the river” for the murder of their boss, Barry Van Treese. Glossip’s attorneys claim Sneed carried out the killing on his own. But two juries believed testimony, primarily from Sneed, that claimed Glossip offered Sneed thousands of dollars to kill Van Treese, who owned the Best Budget Inn. Oklahoma Department of Corrections records confirm Tapley has Oklahoma County convictions for first-degree rape and concealing stolen property from July 1997, matching the time frame he provided in the document. Scott spent nearly five years in state custody on robbery convictions from Tulsa County, DOC records show. In his affidavit, Tapley referred to Sneed’s alleged knowledge of cash that Van Treese had stashed in his vehicle and said it was the reason Sneed killed the motel owner. “I am sure he did it for the money because he told me the money was in the car,” Tapley said in the sworn statement. Sneed told authorities and a jury that Glossip offered him money to kill Van Treese, confessing to beating the motel owner to death with a baseball bat inside Room 102 of the motel. He then said he and Glossip split about $4,000 they found under a seat inside Van Treese’s car before taking the car and abandoning it at a nearby parking lot. The Court of Criminal Appeals later reported that the money found on Sneed and Glossip was the state’s most compelling corroborative evidence implicating Glossip in the crime. Sneed has remained at Joseph Harp since taking a plea deal in exchange for avoiding the death penalty in Van Treese’s death. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Tapley, in his affidavit, said Sneed gave him “very detailed” accounts of how he killed Van Treese at the motel where Glossip was the resident manager and Sneed lived on-site as a maintenance worker. “Justin Sneed made it clear to me that he wanted to kill Mr. Van Treese because he told me how hard it was to kill him,” Tapley wrote of the conversations. “He then told me that there was a struggle, and it was really hard to get Mr. Van Treese to die.” According to Tapley’s statement, Sneed never mentioned that Glossip — or anyone else — was involved in the crime...... The new filings include a copy of a news report from KOKH-TV, Oklahoma City’s Fox affiliate. The station reported that evidence in the case was destroyed during Glossip’s first appeal, because something written on the property box indicated his appeals had been exhausted. The attorneys included a copy of an Oklahoma City police report that listed a wallet, knives, keys, glasses and shower curtain were destroyed, along with a roll and bag of duct tape, an envelope with a note inside, a white box with papers, a deposit book and two receipt books. It was unclear from the document who ordered or authorized the destruction of the property."
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/courts/richard-glossip-s-attorneys-file-new-affidavit-calling-key-witness/article_5bc76900-92c2-50a9-aff5-2124ecafd999.html