Oklahoma inmate gets temporary reprieve from execution

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt is granting another temporary reprieve to death row inmate Richard Glossip, pushing his scheduled execution back until February 2023.

Stitt issued an executive order on Wednesday delaying Glossip’s execution while the Court of Criminal Appeals considers his claims of innocence and prosecutorial misconduct.

Glossip was scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Nov. 21 for the 1997 murder-for-hire killing of his boss, motel owner Barry Van Treese.

Prosecutors acknowledge Glossip did not kill Van Treese, but maintain that he paid the hotel maintenance man, Justin Sneed, to do it.

Sneed was a key witness in two separate trials in which Glossip was convicted.