Oklahoma death-row inmate Richard Glossip won a two-week reprieve just hours before his scheduled execution on Wednesday.
Glossip, who was slated to die via lethal injection for the 1997 murder of a hotel owner, had filed a last-minute appeal arguing new evidence pointed to his innocence.
Although Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin denied the appeal, she was overruled by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, which issued an emergency stay of execution that runs out on Sept. 30. The judges wanted to give “fair consideration” to all of the materials Glossip’s defense submitted.
Nearly a quarter of a million people signed an online petition opposing the execution, and the Innocence Project released a letter of its own urging a stay. The letter was signed by University of Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer and Sen. Tom Coburn, a capital punishment supporter.
