It is almost unheard of for a court to leave in place a criminal conviction after the prosecutor has confessed error. But the Supreme Court appears ready to take the plunge in an Oklahoma capital case where the defendant has been on death row for more than 26 years.

The defendant, Richard Glossip, is 61 years old. He has lived through nine execution dates and eaten his “last meal” three times. The waiting time alone may be deemed “cruel and unusual” by some. Or maybe, with our creaky justice system when it comes to death penalty cases, not so unusual — and, considering the alternative, not so cruel.

A jury convicted Glossip in 1998 of a murder for hire of his employer. Jurors sentenced him to death. The confessed murderer, Justin Sneed, who allegedly received $10,000 for the job, was the principal witness against him. Sneed was sentenced to life imprisonment. Glossip denied involvement in the murder and steadfastly maintained his innocence.

Glossip’s lawyer, Seth Waxman, told the justices that Glossip was “convicted on the word of one man.” Paul Clement, representing the Oklahoma attorney general called Sneed an “indispensable witness” for the state. Both lawyers are former solicitors general.

The first conviction was reversed because an appellate court decided that Glossip’s lawyer was not prepared. He was tried again in 2004, and another jury convicted him.

The new Oklahoma attorney general, Republican Gentner Drummond, conducted a thorough investigation of the case. Buttressed by a report of independent counsel, he concluded that Oklahoma had procured the conviction by unconstitutional means.

It had........

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