Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch decided to sit out of the court's decision in the death penalty case of inmate Richard Glossip.
"Justice Gorsuch took no part in the consideration or decision of this application," the Supreme Court wrote in a document filed on Friday.
The high court ruled to block the execution of Glossip, 60, a death row inmate from Oklahoma. The decision arrived after Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed a motion requesting that the Supreme Court block the execution and grant a new trial for the inmate.
According to the Associated Press, Gorsuch's decision to pass on the ruling is likely because he previously heard the case while serving as an appeals court judge.
On April 26, Drummond issued a statement saying that he was "disappointed" by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voting against clemency for Glossip. Drummond said that Glossip failed to receive a fair trial in 2004.
"Earlier this month, Drummond had asked the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to vacate Glossip's murder conviction and remand the case back to Oklahoma County District Court. His decision came after ordering an independent review of a case that had long been plagued by doubts and controversy. The court rejected the Attorney General's motion April 20," Drummond's office said.
In 1997, Glossip was charged with accessory to murder after his boss, Barry Van Treese, was beaten to death in a motel room in Oklahoma City. Glossip's coworker testified that Glossip offered money to the colleague to kill Van Treese, which resulted in Glossip receiving the death penalty.
"The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals later overturned Glossip's conviction for ineffective assistance of counsel. He was convicted and sentenced to death again at a 2004 retrial," Drummond's office said.
The attorney general previously discovered that the state had failed to produce a box of evidence to Glossip's legal team and Drummond eventually appointed an independent counsel to review the evidence, according to the attorney general's office.
"The findings from that review formed much of the basis for the State's motion to vacate the conviction and remand the case to district court," Drummond's office said in a statement.
Glossip was scheduled to receive the death penalty May 18, but the Supreme Court's ruling on Friday places the penalty on hold while justices continue to review the evidence.
Newsweek has reached out to the Supreme Court's press office via email for comment.
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