Glossip v. State

• Decision Date: 13 April 2007
• Docket Number: No. D 2005-310.,D 2005-310.
• Citation: 157 P.3d 143,2007 OK CR 12
• Parties: Richard Eugene GLOSSIP, Appellant v. STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.
• Court: United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma

157 P.3d 143

2007 OK CR 12

Richard Eugene GLOSSIP, Appellant v. STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.

No. D 2005-310.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma.

April 13, 2007.

An Appeal From The District Court Of Oklahoma County Before The Honorable Twyla Mason Gray, District Judge

RICHARD EUGENE GLOSSIP, Appellant, was tried by jury for the crimes of Murder in the First Degree in Case No. CF-97-244 in the District Court of Oklahoma County before the Honorable Twyla Mason Gray, District Judge. Glossip was sentenced to death, and he perfected this appeal. Judgment and Sentence is AFFIRMED.

Silas R. Lyman, II, Wayne Woodyard, Capital Trial Division, Indigent Defense System, Norman, OK, attorneys for defendant at trial.

Connie Smothermon, Gary Ackley, Assistant District Attorneys, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma City, OK, attorneys for the State at trial.

Janet Chesley, Kathleen M. Smith, Capital Direct Appeals Division, Indigent Defense System, Norman, OK, attorneys for appellant on appeal.

W.A. Drew Edmondson, Attorney General of Oklahoma, Seth B. Branham, Assistant Attorney General, Oklahoma City, OK, attorneys for appellee on appeal.

OPINION

LEWIS, Judge.

¶ 1 Appellant, Richard Eugene Glossip, was charged with the First Degree (malice) Murder in violation of 21 O.S.Supp.1996, § 701.7(A), on January 14, 1997, in Oklahoma County District Court Case No. CF-97-244. The instant appeal arises from a trial occurring in May and June 2004, before the Honorable Twyla Mason Gray, District Judge.¹ The State filed a Bill of Particulars and alleged, during sentencing, the existence of two aggravating circumstances: (1) that the person committed the murder for remuneration or the promise of remuneration or employed another to commit the murder for remuneration or the promise of remuneration; and (2) the existence of the probability that the defendant will commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society. See 21 O.S.2001, § 701.12(3) and (7).

¶ 2 The jury found Glossip guilty of first degree (malice) murder, found the existence of the murder for remuneration aggravating circumstance, and set punishment at death. Judge Gray formally sentenced Glossip in accordance with the jury verdict on August 27, 2004.

I. FACTS

¶ 3 In January of 1997, Richard Glossip worked as the manager of the Best Budget Inn in Oklahoma City, and he lived on the premises with his girlfriend D-Anna Wood. Justin Sneed, who admitted killing Barry Van Treese, was hired by Glossip to do maintenance work at the motel.

¶ 4 Barry Van Treese, the murder victim, owned this Best Budget Inn and one in Tulsa. He periodically drove from his home in Lawton, Oklahoma to both motels. The Van Treese family had a series of tragedies during the last six months of 1996, so Mr. Van Treese was only able to make overnight visits to the motel four times in that time span. His usual habit was to visit the motel every two weeks to pickup the receipts, inspect the motel, and make payroll.

¶ 5 The State presented testimony about the physical condition, financial condition, and the day to day operations of the motel. At the beginning of 1997, Mr. Van Treese decided to do an audit of both motels after it was determined that there were shortfalls. Before Mr. Van Treese left for Oklahoma City, Donna Van Treese, Barry's wife, calculated Glossip's net pay at $429.33 for the period ending January 5^th, 1997, because Glossip had $211.15 in draws.² On January 6, 1997, she and Mr. Van Treese reviewed the books and discovered $6,101.92 in shortages for the Oklahoma City motel in 1996. Mrs. Van Treese testified her husband intended to ask Glossip about the shortages.

¶ 6 Sometime in December, Mr. Van Treese told Billye Hooper, the day desk manager, that he knew things needed to be taken care of, and he would take care of them the first of January. Hooper believed Van Treese was referring to Glossip's management of the motel.

¶ 7 Justin Sneed, by all accounts, had placed himself in a position where he was totally dependent on Glossip. Sneed started living at the motel when he came to Oklahoma City with a roofing crew from Texas. Sneed quit the roofing crew and became a maintenance worker at the motel. He made no money for his services, but Glossip provided him with a room and food. Sneed admitted killing Mr. Van Treese because Glossip offered him money to do it. The events leading up to the killing began with Van Treese's arrival at the motel on January 6.

¶ 8 Van Treese arrived at the Best Budget Inn in Oklahoma City on January 6, 1997, around 5:30 p.m. Around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m., Van Treese left Oklahoma City to go to the Tulsa Best Budget Inn to make payroll and collect deposits and receipts. Hooper testified Van Treese was not upset with Glossip and did not say anything to her about shortages before he left for Tulsa. Van Treese did tell Hooper he planned to stay for a week to help remodel rooms.

¶ 9 William Bender, the manager of the Tulsa motel, testified that Mr. Van Treese was very upset. He had never seen him that angry. Van Treese inspected the daily report for the motel, and he checked to see if the daily report matched rooms actually occupied. He told Bender that there were missing registration cards, missing receipts and unregistered occupants at the Oklahoma City motel.

¶ 10 He told Bender that he told Glossip that he had until Van Treese arrived back at Oklahoma City to come up with the missing receipts. Then he was going to give Glossip another week to come up with the missing registration cards and to get the receipts in order. He also told Bender that if Glossip were fired Bender would manage the Oklahoma City motel. Van Treese left the Tulsa motel and arrived back at the Oklahoma City motel at about 2:00 a.m. on January 7.

¶ 11 Sneed, also known as Justin Taylor, testified that in exchange for maintenance work, Glossip let him stay in one of the motel rooms. Sneed said he only met Van Treese a few times, and he saw him at the motel with Glossip on the evening of January 6, 1997. Sneed testified that around 3:00 a.m. on January 7, 1997, Glossip came to his room. Glossip was nervous and jittery. Glossip wanted Sneed to kill Van Treese and he promised him $10,000.00 for killing Van Treese. Sneed testified that Glossip had asked him to kill Van Treese several times in the past and the amount of money kept getting bigger and bigger.

¶ 12 Glossip suggested that Sneed take a baseball bat, go into Van Treese's room (room number 102), and beat him to death while he slept. Glossip said that if Van Treese inspected the rooms in the morning, as he intended to do, he would find that none of the work had been done. Glossip told Sneed that both of them would be out of a job.

¶ 13 Sneed went over to the Sinclair Station next door and bought a soda and possibly a snack. He then went back to his room and retrieved the baseball bat. Sneed said he went to Van Treese's room and entered using a master key that Glossip had given him. Van Treese woke up and Sneed hit him with the bat. Van Treese pushed Sneed, and Sneed fell into the chair and the bat hit and broke the window. When Van Treese tried to get away, Sneed threw him to the floor and hit him ten or fifteen times. Sneed also said that he pulled out a knife and tried to stab Van Treese a couple of times, but the knife would not penetrate Van Treese. Sneed received a black eye in the fight with Van Treese. He later told others that he fell in the shower and hit his eye.

¶ 14 A long time resident of the motel, John Beavers, was walking outside when heard strange noises coming from room 102. He then heard the glass breaking. Beavers believed there was a fight going on in room 102.

¶ 15 After Sneed killed Van Treese he went to the office and told Glossip he had killed Van Treese. He also told him about the broken window. Sneed said that he and Glossip went to room 102 to make sure Van Treese was dead. Glossip took a $100 bill from Van Treese's wallet.

¶ 16 Glossip told Sneed to drive Van Treese's car to a nearby parking lot, and the money he was looking for would be in an envelope under the seat. Glossip also told him to pick up the glass that had fallen on the sidewalk.

¶ 17 Sneed retrieved the car keys from Van Treese's pants and drove Van Treese's car to the credit union parking lot. He found an envelope with about $4000.00 cash under the seat. He came back and swept up the glass. He put the broken glass in room 102, just inside the door. He said that Glossip took the envelope from him and divided the money with him. He also testified that Glossip helped him put a shower curtain over the window, and he helped him cover Van Treese's body. According to Sneed, Glossip told him, that if anyone asked, two drunks got into a fight, broke the glass, and we ran them off. Sneed testified that Glossip told him to go buy a piece of Plexiglas for the window, and some Muriatic acid, a hacksaw, and some trash bags in order to dispose of Van Treese's body.

¶ 18 D-Anna Wood testified that she and Glossip were awakened at around 4:00 a.m. by Sneed. She testified that Glossip got out of bed and went to the front door. When he returned, Glossip told her that it was Sneed reporting that two drunks got into a fight and broke a window. She testified that Glossip then returned to bed.

¶ 19 Glossip told police during a second interview, that Sneed told him that he killed Van Treese. He denied ever going into room 102, except for assisting with repairing the window. He said he never saw Van Treese's body in the room.

¶ 20 The next morning, Billye Hooper arrived at work and was surprised to see that Glossip was awake. She also noticed that Mr. Van Treese's car was gone. She asked Glossip about the car, and Glossip told her that Mr. Van Treese had left to get supplies for remodeling rooms. A housekeeper testified that Glossip told her to clean the upstairs rooms, and he and Sneed would take care of the downstairs, where...