Oklahoma Republican blasts DAs for opposing review of sketchy death sentence: they'd 'rather no one look under their hood'

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board denied clemency to Richard Glossip, a death row inmate who has eaten his last meal three times amid repeated reschedulings, and whose actual guilt in the murder for which he was convicted is heavily disputed. According to Republican state lawmaker Kevin McDugle, the principal evidence that got him convicted was the testimony of another man who committed the murder himself, and the jury never saw how police coerced his confession.

And on CNN Wednesday, McDugle — a staunch conservative and self-described supporter of capital punishment — vowed to continue to help Glossip get off of death row.

"Do you expect the governor to step in?" asked anchor Bianna Golodryga.

"I'm hopeful that he will," said McDugle. "I went by his office as soon as I got back to request some time with him. He's tied up today. I'm hopeful to get a meeting with him tomorrow. I'll ask him to do a 60-day stay, which is the only thing he has power to do right now. By state law, he can't do anything other than give a 60-day stay, because the Pardon and Parole Board denied his ability to do so."

"When do you expect that to happen?" asked Golodryga. "I know this just took place and this decision just passed down, but are you expecting it perhaps even today?"

"I don't know that he'll decide it that quick ... I'm hopeful to get the time with the governor," said McDugle. "I think this highlights in Oklahoma, as embarrassing as it is, a systemic problem that we have with some of our D.A.s. Some of our D.A.s want you to rubber-stamp everything that they do, and they were aggravated and had a number of them show up at the hearing today, and the two members that voted no on the Pardon and Parole Board happened to be district attorneys. Who are the five members on our Court of Criminal Appears? They happen to be district attorneys. They would rather no one look under their hood and no one verify or check their cases, but in this case, it's egregious. The number of things that have gone wrong with this case, so much so that the Attorney General Drummond, who is very tough on crime, sided with the defense."

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