OKLAHOMA CITY — Dr. Phil McGraw will join lawmakers in Oklahoma City for a rally and press conference on Tuesday, May 9, to speak out against the state's execution of death row inmate Richard Glossip.
On Friday, May 5, the Supreme Court blocked Oklahoma from executing Glossip for his role in a 1997 murder-for-hire after the state's attorney general agreed his life should be spared.
The stay of execution granted by SCOTUS is temporary to allow the Court time to review the case. Glossip's execution was scheduled for May 18.
Dr. Phil, who was born in Oklahoma, has interviewed Glossip on his talk show, the Oklahoma House of Representatives said in the announcement.
The rally will begin at 10 a.m. on the south steps of the Oklahoma State Capitol and, weather permitting, the press conference is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in the Capitol Press Room.
The lawmakers who will be present are Rep. Kevin McDugle and Rep. Justin Humphrey. Glossip's attorney Don Knight will also be in attendance, along with Sister Helen Prejean, Lea Glossip, and Justin Jackson.
Prior to SCOTUS stepping in, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board had rejected Glossip's clemency. Glossip has long maintained his innocence in the 1997 killing of his former boss, motel owner Barry Van Treese.
Oklahoma's Republican attorney general, Gentner Drummond, said he would ask the board to spare Glossip instead of asking that execution be allowed to proceed, which is what his office usually does in such cases. He said he wouldn't argue that Glossip is innocent, but that Glossip deserves a new trial in light of numerous concerns about how his case was handled decades ago.
“I am not aware of an Oklahoma Attorney General ever supporting a clemency application for a death row inmate,” Drummond wrote in a letter to the parole board. But, he added, it is “simply not the case” the state has confidence in Glossip's conviction.
Ahead of the hearing, Kim Kardashian urged her millions of social media followers to contact the parole board and Stitt in a bid to stop the execution. Two years ago, she threw her support behind another Oklahoma death row inmate Julius Jones, whom Stitt spared just hours before his scheduled execution.
Despite the public outcry, the board decided to reject his clemency. It is now in the hands of the Supreme Court, who will review Glossip's petitions that argue he didn't receive a fair trial.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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