An Oklahoma man hours away from execution was given an extra two weeks on death row at the last minute.
Oklahoma’s appeals court granted a two-week stay in the execution of Richard Glossip Wednesday three hours before his scheduled execution, Reuters reports.
Glossip’s lawyers had been pushing for more time, claiming they uncovered new evidence that proves his innocence.
Glossip was convicted in the death of Barry Van Treese in 1997. Prosecutors said he hired a hitman to kill Treese, who was his boss. Treese was beaten to death.
The hitman testified that Glossip hired him, but his story reportedly changed multiple times, though the judge ruled the jury was not allowed to know the hitman had changed his statement to police.
The fact that Glossip was convicted largely based on possibly faulty testimony from a killer has raised doubts among many and fed a campaign to prevent Glossip’s death.
The execution has also drawn ire because it will use a drug formula used in an execution that went horribly wrong last year. It took 43 minutes for the man, Clayton Lockett, to die.
A rally was held outside the capitol protesting the execution, and media reports have raised serious concerns about the case.
Now his lawyers have two weeks to save Glossip’s life.
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