On February 25, 2025, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Glossip v. Oklahoma, 604 U.S. ___, ruling that "the prosecution violated its obligations under Napue [v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264 (1959)]," entitling Richard Glossip to a new trial. The Napue violation concerned the prosecutor's failure to correct false testimony by the key prosecution witness about the reasons for his lithium prescription. Although the state court had held that Glossip's claims were procedurally barred under Oklahoma's Post-Conviction Procedures Act (PCPA), this was not an independent state ground precluding federal review because the state court's application of the procedural bar was contingent in its conclusion that the state Attorney General's concession of federal constitutional error was baseless.
