Supreme Court Blocks Execution of Death Row Inmate Richard Glossip as A.G. Says Trial Was 'Unfair'

The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked the execution of an Oklahoma death row inmate who has been behind bars for decades and had nine scheduled execution dates.

Richard Glossip was granted a stay of execution Friday by the U.S. Supreme Court, according to the Associated Press. Glossip's execution has been put on hold until the Supreme Court can review his underlying conviction, the AP reported.

Even the Oklahoma Attorney General supported Glossip's application for a stay, saying in a statement that his trial had been "unfair and unreliable."

"I am very grateful to the U.S. Supreme Court for their decision to grant a stay of execution," Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement to PEOPLE. "I will continue working to ensure justice prevails in this important case."

Glossip was scheduled to be executed on May 18, NBC reported.

He has maintained his innocence continuously, according to CNN.

Glossip was found guilty of ordering the 1997 killing of his boss, the owner of an Oklahoma City motel where Glossip was a handyman. Glossip's alleged accomplice, Justin Sneed, told authorities he was hired by Glossip and offered $10,000 to kill Barry Van Treese. Sneed was later sentenced to life in prison, AP reported.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed a motion Monday concluding that "based on careful review of new information that has come to light, including a report by an independent counsel appointed by the State, that Glossip's capital sentence cannot be sustained."

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Drummond cited the prosecution's failure to disclose that Sneed — the prosecution's key witness — had a serious psychiatric condition, which he did not divulge during the trial, according to AP.

"The public interest is clearly served by not executing a man after the State has concluded that the conviction cannot be sustained," the motion states.

Glossip's attorneys in a filing to the Supreme Court argued that Oklahoma would "also suffer harm from its Department of Corrections executing a person whom the State has concluded should never have been convicted of murder, let alone sentenced to die, in the first place," according to CNN.

Glossip's case was featured on the podcast Wrongful Conviction, produced by music executive Jason Flom.

"His spirit is completely unbroken," Flom told PEOPLE in 2022. "He says, 'Listen. I'm not mad at anyone and I'm not going to let this ruin my spirit. I dance in my cell, I sing, I paint, I write poetry. My situation's difficult, but I'm not going to let it get me down. The only day we have is today.'"

After the high court's decision, Glossip's attorney Don Knight said, "We are very grateful to the U.S. Supreme Court for doing the right thing in stopping Richard Glossip's unlawful execution. There is nothing more harrowing than the thought of executing a man who the State now admits has never received a fair trial. Thankfully, for the time being, Mr. Glossip is out of peril. Our hope is that the Court will reverse the decision of the [Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals] and vacate Mr. Glossip's conviction once and for all."