U.S. Supreme Court Reverses Death Penalty Case After Prosecutors Fail to Correct Knowingly False Testimony

By Robert Phillips, Deputy District Attorney (Ret.)

Legal Issues and Case Citation: 

• Fourteenth Amendment due process 
• False evidence and the prosecution’s duty to correct 
• Glossip v. Oklahoma (Feb. 25, 2025) U.S. [145 S.Ct. 612; 221 L.Ed.2nd 90] 

Rule: The prosecution’s failure to correct false or misleading evidence presented at trial constitutes a Fourteenth Amendment due process violation, providing grounds for reversible error. 

Facts: Defendant Richard Glossip worked for Barry Van Treese, the owner of two Best Budget Inns, and managed Van Treese’s Oklahoma City inn. In the summer of 1996, Glossip hired a 19-year-old man named Justin Sneed to do maintenance and housekeeping in exchange for a free room. Allegedly unbeknownst to Glossip, Sneed had a history of violence, angry outbursts and substance abuse. On Jan. 6, 1997, Van Treese visited Glossip’s Best Budget for the purpose of collecting the cash deposits. Van Treese suspected at the time that Glossip had been allowing guests to stay at the motel “off the books,” pocketing the money for himself. After Van Treese discussed this issue with Glossip and then retired to his motel room, Sneed snuck into Van Treese’s room and repeatedly beat him over the head with a baseball bat, killing him.  

In the ensuing investigation by local law enforcement, during the initial stages of which Sneed evaded arrest, Glossip denied any knowledge of the murder. Contrary to Glossip’s initial statements, however, an in-depth investigation eventually revealed that Sneed had come to Glossip’s room immediately after the murder and told Glossip what he had done. Glossip immediately began directing a coverup. That night, he directed Sneed to take Van Tresse’s car and hide it after retrieving about $4,000 in receipts from it. He later told various witnesses that he had seen Van Treese alive and well at around seven o’clock the morning of the 7th, although in reality Van Treese was already dead.  

Eventually, however, his story began to unravel. When initially questioned by police, Glossip told investigators that he suspected Sneed had something to do with the murder, explaining that he had heard glass breaking the night ....