Oklahoma lawmakers urge pause amid fears innocent man to be executed

Bipartisan group calls for new hearing over lack of evidence in case of Richard Glossip, 59, as state rushes to speed up executions

A letter signed by 61 Oklahoma lawmakers - most of them pro-death penalty Republicans - has been sent to the state's attorney general calling for a new hearing in the case of Richard Glossip, a death row inmate scheduled to be executed next month.

Forty-four Republican and 17 Democratic legislators, amounting to more than a third of the state assembly, have written to John O'Connor pleading for the new hearing.