Richard Glossip case: Ex-Oklahoma lawmaker says Supreme Court ruling should spark death penalty reform

A former Oklahoma lawmaker, a longtime advocate for Richard Glossip, believes the Supreme Court decision overturning his conviction should spur an overhaul of the way prosecutors pursue death penalty cases. 

Former Representative Kevin McDugle, a Republican who served a district including Coweta and Wagoner, has spent years arguing Glossip deserved a new trial. Now that Glossip has served 28 years, with his conviction overturned, McDugle speculated prosecutors might be unable to retry the murder case that sent Glossip to Oklahoma's death row.

"I'm ecstatic that Richard has the decision he got," he said. "I don't honestly think they have enough evidence to try him again, so we'll see what happens."

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said he would consult with the Oklahoma County District Attorney about a new trial, and offer assistance based on the state review of the case. However, Drummond said "Mr. Glossip by his own testimony is guilty of accessory after the fact, so by his own testimony, we know he's guilty of a 35-year crime," but said he would defer to the Department of Corrections on how it calculates time served.

McDugle was elated the case was overturned, after years of advocating the Glossip prosecution was so problematic, he should be spared the death penalty while the issues were reviewed.

His insistence helped spur the AG to review the case, eventually leading to Drummond arguing the conviction should be overturned.

McDugle said "When you get to look at all the evidence, you realize Richard Glossip should never have been on death row. The guy who committed the murder is in prison. He should be on death row, but he's serving a life sentence."