A former Oklahoma death row inmate is scheduled to return to court as his case moves forward toward a retrial tied to a 1997 murder. According to multiple reports, the man spent nearly three decades in incarceration, including a period on death row, before being released. His case has been described as having put him near execution multiple times before the current proceedings. The upcoming court appearance is connected to the retrial process, which is expected to revisit issues from the original conviction related to the 1997 killing. While the outlets do not provide additional details in the provided excerpts about the reasons for the retrial or the specific legal disputes to be addressed, they agree on the key procedural status: the defendant is back in court (or scheduled to be) and the matter is proceeding toward a new trial. The reports also align on the broad timeline, emphasizing the length of time the defendant was incarcerated and the fact that he was previously on death row.