Case Update: Oklahoma Board Denies Clemency for Richard Glossip

On April 26, the Oklahoma Board of Pardons and Paroles declined to rec­om­mend clemen­cy for death-row pris­on­er Richard Glossip (pic­tured), who is sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed on May 18, 2023. The board’s 2 – 2 vote con­sti­tut­ed a denial of clemen­cy since the gov­er­nor can­not grant clemen­cy with­out the board’s recommendation.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond sent a let­ter to the board urg­ing them to grant clemen­cy for Glossip. ​“I am not aware of an Oklahoma Attorney General ever sup­port­ing a clemen­cy appli­ca­tion for a death row inmate,” Drummond wrote. ​“In every pre­vi­ous case that has come before this board, the state has main­tained full con­fi­dence in the integri­ty of the con­vic­tion. That is sim­ply not the case in this mat­ter due to the mate­r­i­al evi­dence that was not dis­closed to the jury.” He said exe­cut­ing Glossip would be a ​“grave injustice.”