An Oklahoma judge on Thursday allowed former death row prisoner to be released on bond while awaiting retrial over a 1997 killing that put him on the brink of execution .
The decision clears the way for Glossip, 63, to leave a lockup for the first time since his arrest nearly 30 years ago. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out his conviction, and his longstanding claims of innocence have drawn support from Kim Kardashian and other prominent figures.
Judge Natalie Mai issued an order setting bond at $500,000. Glossip must wear an electronic monitoring device and will not be allowed to travel outside Oklahoma. He also must not contact any witnesses in the case, or consume any drugs or alcohol.
It was unclear Thursday when Glossip would be released. He will have to post only 10%, or $50,000, and the process could take two or three days, said his attorney Donald Knight.
Knight also suggested Glossip is counting on contributions to raise the money.
鈥淢r. Glossip has many supporters and we are hopeful those supporters can afford the bail,鈥� Knight said.
Glossip had been sentenced to death over the 1997 killing in Oklahoma City of his former boss, motel owner Barry Van Treese, in what prosecutors have alleged was a murder-for-hire scheme.
The Supreme Court ruled last year that prosecutors鈥� decision to allow a key witness to give testimony they knew to be false violated Glossip鈥檚 constitutional right to a fair trial.
Glossip has remained behind bars after Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced the state would on a murder charge but not pursue the death penalty again.
鈥淭he court fully expects that the state will rigorously prosecute its case going forward and the defense will provide robust representation for Glossip,鈥� the judge wrote in the order. 鈥淭he court hopes that a new trial, free of error, will provided all interested parties and the citizens of Oklahoma, the closure they deserve.鈥�
During his time on death row, courts in Oklahoma set nine different execution dates for Glossip, and he came so close to being put to death that he ate three separate last meals. In 2015, he was even held in a cell next to Oklahoma鈥檚 execution chamber, waiting to be strapped to a gurney and die by lethal injection.
But the scheduled time for his execution came and went. Behind the walls of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, after learning one of the lethal drugs they received to carry out the procedure . The drug mix-up ultimately led to a nearly in Oklahoma.
鈥淢r. Glossip now has the chance to taste freedom while his defense team continues to pursue justice on his behalf against a system that the United States Supreme Court has found to be guilty of serious misconduct by state prosecutors,” Knight said.
Glossip鈥檚 case attracted international attention after actress Susan Sarandon 鈥� who won an Academy Award for her portrayal of death penalty opponent Sister Helen Prejean鈥檚 fight to save a man on Louisiana鈥檚 death row in the 1995 movie 鈥淒ead Man Walking鈥� 鈥� took up his cause in real life. Glossip’s case also was featured in the 2017 documentary film titled 鈥淜illing Richard Glossip.”
鈥淏oth Richard and I are grateful for the court’s decision,鈥� Glossip’s wife, Lea, said in a text to The Associated Press. 鈥淲e have been praying for this day.鈥�
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