A judge in Oklahoma City has rejected Richard Glossip's request to push back his third murder trial so his attorneys could pursue additional DNA testing, keeping the case on track for a December 7 start date. Judge Natalie Mai denied the delay despite defense arguments that new testing on a knife could point to someone other than Glossip in the 1997 killing of motel owner Barry Van Treese.
Defense Wanted Until April to Test Evidence
Glossip's attorneys had asked to push the trial from December into April 2027, telling the court they needed more time to conduct DNA testing on evidence they believe could implicate another person in Van Treese's murder, according to KFOR. Defense attorney Don Knight said female DNA had been found on a knife tied to the case, and that Justin Sneed — the state's key witness — had said he did not use that weapon. Prosecutors opposed the delay, arguing the defense had other avenues to get the evidence tested without moving the trial date, the station reported.
Court records filed with the Oklahoma State Courts Network show the defense had filed a motion asking the court to direct the Oklahoma City Forensic DNA Lab to forward specified items to an outside, accredited laboratory retained by the defense, while continuing the trial date until that testing wrapped up. The docket also lists a related motion to toll pretrial and Daubert deadlines while discovery and forensic testing played out. The case record identifies Glossip as charged with first-degree murder under Oklahoma statute 21 O.S. 701.7.
A Case With Nearly Three Decades of History
Glossip, a former death row inmate, was convicted and sentenced to death in connection with Van Treese's murder and spent nearly three decades on death row before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction in February 2025, per the station's reporting. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond's office then announced it would retry Glossip for first-degree murder but would not seek the death penalty, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Glossip was released on bond in May, as reported by The Intercept.
Justin Sneed, the man whose testimony helped convict Glossip in the original trial, received a life sentence in exchange for becoming the state's star witness against him, the outlet notes. Prior DNA testing in the case had produced inconclusive results, and the defense had argued it should be allowed to choose its own expert for the additional round of testing.
Oklahoma's History With Post-Conviction DNA Testing
The fight over DNA evidence in Glossip's case lands in a state with a long track record of convictions upended by forensic testing. DNA evidence led to the exoneration of 11 wrongfully convicted men in Oklahoma over the two decades before 2014, according to Oklahoma Watch, including cases where testing implicated other suspects entirely. Oklahoma became the 50th state to pass a post-conviction DNA testing law in 2013, per the Innocence Project.
For now, Glossip's third trial remains scheduled to begin December 7 in Oklahoma City, with the dispute over the knife's DNA results unresolved heading into that date.
