As attorney general of Oklahoma, Gentner Drummond has personally attended nine executions. Since taking office in 2023, he’s approved of every death row case in the state — except one.
“I believed it my duty to look at…every person on death row,” he told CBS News. “When I stumbled across Richard Glossip, it was different. This is an individual who didn’t murder the victim.”
Glossip was convicted in the 1997 murder of a man who had been beaten to death. When Drummond examined the case, he learned the state knew its key witness lied during Glossip’s trial.
“I think by Mr. Glossip’s own testimony, he’s guilty of at least accessory after the fact,” Drummond explained. “So he’s guilty. But is he guilty of murder? That was the question.”
Glossip has denied being involved in the murder and maintains his innocence.
But when Drummond learned the state withheld evidence during the trial 27 years ago, he asked his state’s criminal appeals court to intervene.
“I confessed error by the state and said we had information that we didn’t disclose that could have had a material impact on the outcome and, therefore, we would ask that Mr. Glossip be afforded a new trial,” Drummond said.
But the appeal was denied.
“I anticipated that Mr. Glossip would seek appeal to the United States Supreme Court, and we joined in that effort,” Drummond said of the next move.
He admitted, “It’s not a very popular position for a Republican attorney general… But the mission of my office is not to protect the prosecutor. My mission is to seek justice.”
The new appeal made it all the way to the state Supreme Court, which, in a 5-3 decision last month, ordered a new trial for Glossip. Now, it’s up to the district attorney and Drummond to decide their next steps.
“I do not want to be culpable in executing somebody who is innocent, which is why I took great political risk to review Mr. Glossip and have sought a new trial,” Drummond said.
Asked whether there have been other cases where mistakes were made or there may have been prosecutorial misconduct, Drummond stated: “I think empirically, we know statistically that’s correct. But not under my watch.”
