Law abiding citizens rarely think about evidence. Why would they? Evidence is most relevant upon the commission of a crime. The innocent person has little to fear, at least this is what many unsuspecting citizens think.
Most have no concept of how easy it is to be convicted of a crime. With no evidence or unsubstantiated evidence at best, anyone, anywhere can be convicted of anything. This must be digested. To further this point, one needs only to look at Oklahoma death row inmate, Richard Glossip.
The Glossip case is so complicated because it is so simple. When reading through the facts of the case, one is left with the feeling that something has to be missing. Certainly, a man could not be given the unredeemable sentence of death without evidence showing his guilt beyond a scientific certainty. How Glossip was found guilty of first-degree malice murder brings into light the dark side of our justice system. Consider a few points.
First, prosecutors presented not one shred of evidence able to move a juror to objectively believe Glossip was responsible for the murder of his boss, Barry Van Treese. In fact, prosecutors never once accused Glossip of actually killing Treese. Instead, the state argued Glossip’s culpability on the basis he supposedly hired maintenance man, Justin Sneed, to do the killing on his behalf. This introduced the aggravating circumstance of remuneration. Second, under Oklahoma law, for one to be convicted of murder for hire, the testimony of the accomplice must be independently corroborated with something attaching the defendant to the crime itself. No evidence of this type was ever presented in court. Third, logic is an unwelcome stranger in this case.
Without evidence, prosecutors presented the jury with a fantasy-like narrative. Glossip, a man who had never been in trouble with the law, worked and lived in a small hotel by the grace of its owner. He paid no rent. The narrative says Glossip stole from the owner, then had the owner killed leaving his body in the same hotel where both the owner, the killer and the accomplice lived. For efficiency sake, let’s say Glossip is guilty of this strange murder, the question is; are we as a country comfortable convicting citizens where no evidence, and even less logic can be found?
Justin Sneed was and remains the actual killer of Treese. Sneed confessed and turned witness against Glossip, claiming Glossip hired him to carry out the murder. For his testimony, Sneed was given life while Glossip was given death.
Many sentenced to die, never killed, and many who are innocent suffer the fate of the guilty.
Dennis Ross III, best-selling author of How to Convict an Innocent Man, is an advocate for inmates like Richard Glossip (OK) and Scott Winfield Davis (GA) who have been convicted on either missing or faulty evidence.