A former Oklahoma death row inmate, Richard Glossip, is back in court as his retrial for a 1997 murder case unfolds, a case that brought him to the edge of execution three times.
Glossip spent nearly three decades behind bars before the US Supreme Court overturned his conviction last year, leading to his release on bond by a state judge last month.
The upcoming hearing will decide if Glossip's case goes directly to retrial or if he will receive a new hearing to assess the sufficiency of evidence against him.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond confirmed the state intends to retry Glossip on murder charges but will not seek the death penalty again.
In 1997, Glossip was sentenced to death for the brutal killing of his former boss, Barry Van Treese, who was bludgeoned with a baseball bat in what prosecutors claimed was a murder-for-hire plot.
The Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors allowed a key witness to provide false testimony, violating Glossip’s constitutional right to a fair trial.
Glossip has consistently asserted his innocence and garnered support from high-profile figures, including Kim Kardashian.
Van Treese’s family urged the Supreme Court to uphold Glossip’s conviction and sentence.
During his time on death row, Oklahoma courts set nine different execution dates for Glossip.
He came alarmingly close to execution, having consumed three separate last meals.
In 2015, he was even confined in a cell adjacent to Oklahoma’s execution chamber, poised to be strapped to a gurney for lethal injection.
