Oklahoma

Oklahoma's Own In Focus: Supreme Court overturns Richard Glossip's conviction; DA to decide next steps

Published

1 year ago

February 26, 2025

Oklahoma's Own In Focus: Supreme Court overturns Richard Glossip's conviction; DA to decide next steps

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Richard Glossip’s most recent conviction Friday, leaving the Oklahoma County district attorney to decide whether to try him a third time for the 1997 murder of Barry Van Treese.

Decades-long case history

Glossip, who has been on death row since 1997, was convicted twice of paying Justin Sneed to kill Van Treese, the owner of the motel where Glossip worked. Sneed, who was given a lesser sentence in exchange for his testimony, was the key witness in both trials.

An appeals court overturned Glossip’s first conviction in 2001 due to ineffective counsel. He was convicted again in 2004 and sentenced to death. Over the years, his execution was delayed multiple times, including stays from former Gov. Mary Fallin in 2014 and 2015 due to lethal injection drug concerns, and from Gov. Kevin Stitt in 2022 while new evidence was reviewed.

In 2023, Attorney General Gentner Drummond ordered an independent review of the case, citing evidence that Oklahoma County prosecutors had failed to disclose. A state appeals court upheld Glossip’s conviction later that year, and his clemency request was denied. The U.S. Supreme Court then put his May 2023 execution on hold, heard oral arguments in October, and ruled 5-3 Tuesday to overturn his conviction.

Legal expert and family reactions

Longtime criminal defense attorney Irven Box, who has followed the case for years, said a retrial may be difficult because the main witness, Justin Sneed, has died.

“I think zero odds they’ll retry this case,” Box said. “They could use the transcript from the prior trial, but the main witness is deceased.”

Barry Van Treese’s son, Derek Van Treese, issued a statement saying, in part: “For the last 10,276 days, we’ve been waiting for justice. The family remains confident that when that new trial is held, the jury will return the same verdict as in the first two trials—guilty of first-degree murder.”

Box suggested prosecutors might opt for a lesser charge to resolve the case quickly.

“My opinion is in the next days, weeks, or months, they’ll bring him back to court, reduce the charge—maybe to a lesser charge like murder or manslaughter—give him time credit for the years he’s been in prison, and then I think he’ll be released,” Box said.

The Van Treese family has stated they want the case pursued as a death penalty case and do not want the DA to seek a lesser charge.

Next steps for Glossip

Glossip’s wife, Leah Rogers, said they were overcome with emotion when they received the Supreme Court’s decision over the phone Friday morning. The couple married inside the state penitentiary in 2022.

The Death Penalty Information Center said Glossip could become the 201st U.S. prisoner exonerated from death row if he is not convicted again. Eleven former Oklahoma death row inmates have been acquitted or had their charges dismissed, including Glenn Simmons, who was freed in 2023 after prosecutors found key evidence was withheld in his case.

Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna will now decide whether to refile charges. In a statement, Behenna said she has discussed the ruling with Drummond and will review the opinion before determining the next steps.

🔹 Richard Glossip Legal Analyst Steps After Overturn – Read More Here

🔹 Reactions Pour In After Richard Glossip’s Death Row Sentence Thrown Out – Full Story Here

🔹 Q&A with Former State Rep. Kevin McDugle on Richard Glossip’s New Trial Decision – See the Interview

🔹 Richard Glossip: Full Timeline of His Case – View Timeline Here

🔹 Richard Glossip: Ex-Oklahoma Lawmaker Says Supreme Court Ruling Should Spark Death Penalty Reform – Read More Here

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz: Mar. 1, 2026

Published

8 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz: Mar. 1, 2026

Big night in downtown OKC as the Oklahoma City Thunder welcome the Denver Nugget and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is back on the floor.

Steve McGehee reports live from Paycom Center with the latest on SGA’s return after missing nine games, the Thunder’s push to hold the top spot in the Western Conference, and what getting healthy means for OKC’s title hopes.

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How Oklahoma GM Jim Nagy ‘Put More Around’ John Mateer During Offseason

Published

20 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

How Oklahoma GM Jim Nagy ‘Put More Around’ John Mateer During Offseason

Oklahoma general manager Jim Nagy experienced great success during his first year in Norman.

Nagy, who joined OU’s staff in February 2025, oversaw the Sooners’ scouting staff as Oklahoma reached the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019. He also helped OU sign a top-15 2026 recruiting class and land several key transfer portal players after the 2025 season.

Though the wins outweighed the losses in Nagy’s first year, the Sooners’ general manager knew that there was much to fortify during the offseason.

Oklahoma’s offense sputtered late in the season, as the Sooners scored fewer than 25 points in each of their last four games.

For Nagy, a major focus was surrounding OU quarterback John Mateer with quality talent.

“(We wanted to) just really put more around John Mateer,” Nagy said on The Dari Nowkhah Show on KREF on Friday.

Nagy and his scouting team added plenty of pieces from the portal that should elevate Oklahoma’s offense.

The Sooners signed three portal wideouts — Trell Harris (Virginia), Parker Livingstone (Texas) and Mackenzie Alleyne (Washington State) — after the 2025 season to join returning receivers Isaiah Sategna, Jer’Michael Carter and Jacob Jordan.

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Sategna, who transferred to OU from Arkansas after the 2024 season, served as Mateer’s safety net in 2025. The receiver finished the year with 965 yards and eight touchdowns on 67 catches.

Harris and Livingstone are both proven producers at the Power Four level, and Nagy believes that those two will make OU’s receiving corps stronger in 2026.

“Those two, we’re very excited about both of those guys,” Nagy said.

Nagy also did plenty of work to ensure that OU’s run game improves in 2026.

The Sooners added three tight ends — Hayden Hansen (Florida), Rocky Beers (Colorado State) and Jack Van Dorselaer (Tennessee) — from the portal. They also added three transfer offensive linemen: Caleb Nitta (Western Kentucky), E’Marion Harris (Arkansas) and Peyton Joseph (Georgia Tech).

OU will have its two top running backs from the 2025 squad, Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock, back in 2026.

For those two to reach their full potential, the Sooners’ blockers will have to regularly open up running lanes — and Nagy is confident that they will.

“We have to run the ball better, there’s no way around that,” Nagy said. “Our job is to create more competition in every room in the offseason. I feel like we’ve done that.”

On the show, Nagy revealed that the Sooners added nearly 9,000 collegiate snaps to their roster during the offseason.

The general manager believes that both sides of the ball will be stronger as a result of his scouting team’s offseason efforts and their collaboration with OU’s coaching staff.

“I’ve tried to be really intentional with our communication,” Nagy said. “There’s a common goal: We’re trying to win a national championship. This is a true partnership, and we all have the same goal in mind. It’s going to continue to evolve and get better.”

Oklahoma will open its 2026 season against UTEP on Sept. 5.

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Elgin’s Ritson Meyer becomes four-time Oklahoma high school wrestling state champion

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Elgin’s Ritson Meyer becomes four-time Oklahoma high school wrestling state champion

The loss was on Ritson Meyer’s mind all week as he prepared for his final state wrestling tournament.

A senior 215-pounder at Elgin, Meyer isn’t used to getting beaten, but he got a wake-up call when he lost against Coweta senior Aiven Robbins by five points in their regional championship match.

For Meyer, it set in that winning his fourth state championship wouldn’t be an easy task.

“I lost to him last week and I’m not a loser, so it was eating on me all week in practice,” Meyer said. “So (in) practice, I really leveled up everything. Everything about it.”

Meyer and Robbins met again on Saturday, this time with the Class 5A state championship on the line.

Intensely focused from the start, Meyer came out aggressive. And although it was another great match, Meyer did just enough to etch his name in the state history books.

Meyer held on to beat Robbins in an 8-7 decision in the new OG&E Coliseum as he claimed his fourth state championship, while Coweta won the team title.

An Abilene Christian football signee, Meyer’s wrestling days are over, but he leaves the sport with satisfaction.

“I came out here — even though it hurt, even though I was tired — I got it done,” Meyer said. “I’m so happy. I got to celebrate with my parents, my family, my friends. It’s a crazy feeling.”

A standout running back and linebacker on the gridiron, Meyer helped his team win the Class 4A state title in football as a junior before Elgin lost to Tuttle 23-20 in the 2025 championship game in December.

It’s a different sport, but that loss fueled Meyer’s wrestling season in a way.

“I like to tell people that wrestling is like offseason football,” Meyer said. “I can’t go out, lose. Everybody wanted me to win this. I won it for the whole entire community. First four-timer at Elgin. And that football (loss) really did eat me alive. It didn’t feel good at all, and I didn’t want that same feeling again.”

Meyer had a great start against Robbins on Saturday and never trailed, but Robbins battled to set up a great finish and both were gassed when it was over.

“I just gave it my all,” Meyer said, “and I got it done.”

This article will be updated.

Nick Sardis covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Nick? He can be reached at nsardis@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at@nicksardis. Sign up forThe Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Nick’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing adigital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

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