Oklahoma District Attorneys Gain Ally in Glossip Case

By Keaton Ross, Oklahoma Watch

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has appointed the assistant executive coordinator of the District Attorneys Council as a special prosecutor in the Richard Glossip case, raising eyebrows among attorneys and prompting scrutiny from supporters of the former death row prisoner. 

Ryan Stephenson, a former Oklahoma County prosecutor who now serves as a legislative liaison and organizes training events for the DA Council, made an initial appearance on behalf of the state in the Glossip case on April 24. He received official notice of his appointment as a special assistant attorney general on June 4, nearly six weeks later. 

Stephenson, who earned $12,333.34 from the DA Council in May, has not received supplemental payments from the attorney general’s office, according to a records request fulfilled on July 18. 

The appointment comes two years after several district attorneys sparred with Drummond over his efforts to overturn Glossip’s death sentence over prosecutorial misconduct. In a group text thread, a few district attorneys suggested wielding their collective power to get Drummond to recuse and choose one of them to represent the state in the matter. 

“The AG [Drummond] has a conflict of interest because he has taken a position against the victim and so he should appoint one of us,” District 8 District Attorney Brian Hermanson wrote on May 9, 2023. “Then we can do it on the AG’s nickel.” 

Drummond ultimately prevailed when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Glossip’s death sentence on Feb. 25 because the prosecution knowingly withheld evidence. But his office is now seeking to convict Glossip of non-capital first-degree murder in Oklahoma County District Court, a reversal from 2023, when he agreed over email to accept a time-served plea deal on an accessory to murder charge. In a July 16 court filing, the Attorney General’s office stated the deal was still being negotiated and was anticipatory at best. 

Multiple attorneys, who requested anonymity because they are working on pending cases involving the attorney general’s office, said Stephenson’s appointment to the case is unusual and not clearly outlined in statute. 

Section 215.28 of Title 19 of the Oklahoma Statutes states that the assistant executive coordinator shall devote full time to their duties and not engage in the private practice of law. Working on behalf of the state is generally considered public practice, but long hours could interfere with his full-time employment. 

The statute Drummond cited when appointing Stephenson does not explicitly authorize a special assistant attorney general, though it grants the attorney general the broad authority to appoint employees deemed necessary for the “proper performance of his or her duties.” 

Brook Arbeitman, a spokesperson for Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna, said Behenna had no involvement in the appointment. Through District Attorney’s Council spokesperson Damon Gardenhire, Stephenson declined comment and referred questions to the attorney general’s office.

Leslie Berger, a spokeswoman for Drummond, acknowledged an inquiry from Oklahoma Watch on July 14 but said a person with knowledge of the situation was unavailable. Several follow-up requests for comment were unsuccessful. 

Three of Glossip’s most vocal supporters, including a current and one former state lawmaker, said Stephenson’s appointment appears to be a political maneuver to win back support from Oklahoma’s district attorneys. Drummond, a Republican, launched his gubernatorial campaign in January and will face a crowded primary field in 2026. 

“He’s just giving them [DA’s Council] a shot at him regardless of what’s right and what’s wrong,” said Rep. Justin Humphrey, a Republican from Lane who has said he believes Glossip is innocent. 

Justin Jackson, a former state Senate candidate from Tuskahoma and personal friend of Glossip, said he approached Drummond at a fundraising event in Stephens County to talk about the case. He said Drummond responded that the state had an obligation to follow the process.

“He has scars,” Jackson said. “But my response to him was an endorsement from the DAs means nothing to the populace of Oklahoma. It’s more important that he stood up for what was right, and I’m grateful he did at the time that he did.” 

Kevin McDugle, a former state representative who tried to pause the death penalty because he believes Glossip is innocent, said he had several productive meetings with Drummond in 2023 to discuss the case. 

“It’s 1,000% political,” McDugle said. “The DAC were aggravated at him and he needs their support for governor. Now he’s trying to play both sides, and that aggravates me.”

The District Attorneys Council, a state agency tasked with providing administrative support and training to Oklahoma’s 27 independently elected district attorneys, isn’t allowed to endorse candidates. But a closely related group with nearly identical leadership, the Oklahoma District Attorney’s Association, is politically active. The DA Association, which isn’t subject to Oklahoma’s open meetings law, usually meets five minutes after the conclusion of the DA Council meeting. 

The DA Association lobbied against three criminal justice reform ballot initiatives that appeared on the ballot since 2016: State Question 780, State Question 805 and State Question 820. The organization also joined an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Glossip’s death sentence. 

With a potential trial date likely several months or years in the future, the most recent discussion has centered on whether Glossip should be allowed to bond out of the Oklahoma County Detention Center. Oklahoma County District Judge Heather Coyle issued a ruling late Wednesday afternoon denying the defense’s motion to set bond, writing that the state has shown clear and convincing evidence of Glossip’s guilt. 

During a July 21 status conference, Glossip’s attorneys argued he should be granted release on his own recognizance because Drummond preliminarily agreed to release him on time served in 2023. 

“There can be no better statement that the state of Oklahoma does not believe that Mr. Glossip is a danger to anyone in any way,” attorney Don Knight wrote in a July 16 filing. 

In response, Senior Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Hinsperger said the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling does not discredit other evidence tying Glossip to Barry Van Treese’s murder. 

“The State maintains that the evidence against Mr. Glossip remains as strong today as it did at the time of the prior juries’ verdicts of guilt,” she wrote. 

Hinsperger and Jimmy Harmon, the chief of the attorney general’s criminal division, are prosecuting the Glossip case alongside Stephenson. Both previously worked as assistant district attorneys for the Oklahoma County DA’s office.  

The next hearing, where the two sides could decide when to consider the defense’s motion to honor the 2023 plea agreement, is set for Aug. 14 at 1 p.m. 

In a June 9 written statement, Drummond vowed that his office would re-prosecute Glossip solely on hard facts, solid evidence and truthful testimony. He said he decided not to seek the death penalty because Justin Sneed, Glossip’s co-conspirator, who admitted to beating Van Treese to death with a baseball bat in an Oklahoma City motel room in 1997, received life without the possibility of parole. Glossip has maintained that Sneed implicated him as plotting the murder to avoid getting the death penalty. 

“The Van Treese family has endured grief, pain and frustration since the murder of their loved one, and my heart goes out to them,” Drummond said. “The poor judgment and previous misconduct of past prosecutors have only compounded that pain and frustration. While I cannot go back 25 years and handle the case in the proper way that would have ensured true justice, I still have a duty to seek the justice that is available today.”

 

Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.

Keaton Ross covers democracy and criminal justice for Oklahoma Watch.