Related story: Richard Glossip’s attorneys file new affidavit calling key witness’s testimony into question
Related story: Richard Glossip’s attorneys question legality of scheduled execution date
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Attorneys for Richard Glossip on Wednesday alleged the state of Oklahoma is attempting to intimidate existing and possible witnesses from coming forward in his defense case to question the credibility of the state’s star trial witness.
The notice, filed with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, claims Michael Scott, a man who spent time with Justin Sneed at Joseph Harp Correctional Center, was arrested in Rogers County so he would be forced to discuss with Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater the claims he made in an affidavit that Glossip’s attorneys presented to the court.
Scott had declined to answer Prater’s phone calls because he wished to be “left alone by the authorities and the media in this high-profile case” despite being concerned about Glossip’s life.
Glossip is set to be executed Sept. 30, but his attorneys have also questioned the validity of that date on the claim it violates state law.
Scott said in the document that he overheard Sneed brag in prison about sending Glossip “up the river” for the January 1997 beating death of Barry Van Treese at the Best Budget Inn in Oklahoma City. He additionally claimed Sneed seemed “proud” about setting Glossip up to take the fall in Van Treese’s death but did not speak up until seeing a broadcast of the “Dr. Phil” show in August that discussed what the panelists, including Sister Helen Prejean and actress Susan Sarandon, saw as issues with his conviction.
Sneed, now 37, confessed to beating Van Treese, the motel’s owner, with a baseball bat in exchange for a life without parole sentence. Glossip was the resident manager, and Sneed lived at the motel in exchange for maintenance work.
Sneed testified against Glossip in his two trials in 1998 and 2004, both of which returned a death sentence.
Court records indicate Scott was charged in February with driving under the influence and possession of marijuana, both misdemeanors, and that he received a one-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty. Scott, according to the notice, has fallen about $200 short in payment of his fines after getting into a car accident and has not yet completed his community service.
However, the state had not issued a warrant for Scott’s arrest or request to revoke his sentence until Tuesday, which Glossip’s attorneys say was not coincidental. The notice describes how Claremore police officers surrounded Scott’s home to detain him and confronted him, which made him “scared to death,” and that Prater entered the Rogers County interrogation room to question him after he arrived at the station.
Jail records confirm Scott posted $5,000 bail about 7 p.m. Tuesday and has been released from custody following an arrest on the motion to revoke his sentence.
The notice additionally references a Saturday article in The Oklahoman that discussed Scott’s criminal background and suggested some of the information in that story was confidential, adding that the attorneys believe the state leaked information to the paper in possible violation of the law.
“When he tried to tell them that he did not want to answer these questions due to the fact that he (Scott) was not on trial, Prater and (investigator) Eastbrook told him that if he did not tell them about his personal life, then how could they decide if he was telling the truth about anything,” the notice says, referencing the interrogation about the affidavit.
Glossip’s attorneys went on to claim the questioning used by Prater seemed “designed to confuse,” trick or otherwise discredit his allegations against Sneed.
“Mr. Prater told Mr. Scott that he specifically called over to Rogers County and learned that Mr. Scott was on DA supervision and that he may be in violation,” the document states, adding that Prater told Scott he told Rogers County to issue an arrest warrant so he would be forced to talk to him and an investigator.
The notice also alleges Prater told authorities to issue a warrant for Joseph Tapley’s arrest after Tapley’s attorney told him he did not want to speak about the claims he made regarding Sneed’s credibility in an affidavit filed earlier this week. Court records confirm a warrant and motion to revoke were also filed in Tapley’s case Tuesday, which stemmed from a 2014 Oklahoma County drunken driving arrest, though jail records do not show he has been arrested.
He pleaded guilty in February of this year and received a one-year suspended sentence.
Tapley’s affidavit discussed Sneed’s methamphetamine addiction and said that while sharing a cell with him in the Oklahoma County Jail in 1997, Sneed never mentioned Glossip or anyone else was involved in Van Treese’s death.
Prater denied the claims in the document during a phone interview Wednesday evening.
“The time will come when it will be clear to everyone that everything that the defense lawyers and their witnesses are saying are lies,” he said.
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12 comments:
Lonnie Lamb posted at 6:44 pm on Thu, Sep 24, 2015.
This should already be over. Get it done.
Dianna Smith posted at 11:44 am on Thu, Sep 24, 2015.
This is so obviously witness tampering and harassment. Prater and his goons need to be investigated as Glanz has been investigated. It is just sick to kill a man for allegedly hiring someone to kill a man, but allow the man who ACTUALLY killed a man to live.
Cindy Kerr posted at 11:26 am on Thu, Sep 24, 2015.
DA Prater isn't human.
Jim Smith posted at 10:57 am on Thu, Sep 24, 2015.
DAs rarely if ever admit mistakes - even when the evidence of a wrong conviction is overwhelming.
Aren't DAs human like the rest of us?
Jim Smith posted at 10:55 am on Thu, Sep 24, 2015.
This info surely makes the prosecution look bad.
Everything about the conduct of this case stinks. I still can't imagine why prosecutors would let the actual killer plead down to life in exchange for testimony against the guy who (allegedly) hired him to do the killing. And then I can't imagine how a jury, based on that testimony alone, could have sentenced Glossip to death.
Cindy Kerr posted at 9:36 am on Thu, Sep 24, 2015.
Blablabla david
posted at 9:13 am on Thu, Sep 24, 2015.
Cindy, do you ever read your own comments? Just about two levels between asinine and ignorant.
Cindy Keith posted at 8:49 am on Thu, Sep 24, 2015.
We need a federal investigation.... now.
Cindy Kerr posted at 8:38 am on Thu, Sep 24, 2015.
Perhaps DA Prater is the real psychopath in this scenario.
John Lynnewald posted at 10:39 pm on Wed, Sep 23, 2015.
"... if the worst happens, I want my death not to be in vain. If my execution ensures no other innocent man was sent to the death chamber, I am prepared to die for that cause." - Richard Glossip
Guilty men don't have this kind of attitude. This goes beyond the basic human instinct to save one's own life.
As has been stated before, the foundation to the state's entire case against Glossip is the testimony of the man who actually committed the murder with a baseball bat. The state gave him a lighter sentence in exchange for his testimony against Glossip.
It's odd how a DA will eviscerate a witness' character when their testimony goes against the desired outcome, but if it supports the desired outcome, they will embrace a cold-blooded murderer as a truth-telling saint.
Jim McClead posted at 9:22 pm on Wed, Sep 23, 2015.
I hate to think what his defense team will "shovel out" from now until his gurney ride. One has to be impressed with the "output" to date.
Cindy Kerr posted at 8:40 pm on Wed, Sep 23, 2015.
DA Prater,
Are you dating Sneed's sister or what.