Tag Archives: Wrongful Convictions

State Agrees to Pay $340,000 to Man Wrongfully Imprisoned for Six Years

Earl Bain was the face of an ultimately successful campaign to force the state to pay compensation for those wrongfully convicted. A yearslong court fight between the state of Oregon and Earl Bain, a man who received a gubernatorial pardon after serving six years in prison for a crime prosecutors later said he didn’t commit, […]
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ODOJ: Exonerated convict Frank Gable has not proven innocence

The Oregon Department of Justice has made it clear they do not believe Frank Gable has been proven innocent of killing Oregon Corrections Director Michael Francke in 1989 – despite a federal court overturning his conviction, vacating his record, and prohibiting him for ever being arrested or tried for killing Francke again in any court. […]
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Judges Rule Gov. Tina Kotek Is Illegally Keeping People Behind Bars

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown commuted the sentences of nearly 1,000 people locked up in state prisons. Her successor, Gov. Tina Kotek, has reviewed as many as 150 of these early releases and reversed at least two dozen. Source: Judges Rule Gov. Tina Kotek Is Illegally Keeping People Behind […]
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Oregon fighting most wrongful conviction compensation filings

After the social justice protests following the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd four years ago, the 2022 Oregon Legislature passed a law allowing those wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for felony crimes to be compensated by the state. At the time, Oregon was one of only 13 states without such a law. But the Oregon […]
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ODOJ escalates fight against Gable’s bid for compensation

The Oregon Department of Justice is continuing to fight Frank Gable’s request for compensation for being wrongly convicted and imprisoned for killing Oregon Corrections Director Michael Francke. Gable’s conviction has been overturned by two federal courts, the original charges have been dismissed with prejudice, and a federal judge has ruled he cannot be retried for […]
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Oregon fights Gable over compensation for wrongful conviction, imprisonment

The Oregon Department of Justice is fighting Frank Gable’s request for compensation for being wrongly convicted and imprisoned for killing Oregon Corrections Director Michael Francke. Gable has filed a petition in Marion County Circuit Court seeking $2 million under an Oregon law allows compensation to individuals who can prove they were wrongly convicted and their […]
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Few are paid for wrongful convictions in Oregon

When Oregon lawmakers passed Senate Bill 1584 in 2022, they sought to give people who had been wrongfully imprisoned a path to compensation for their time behind bars Since then, 16 former inmates have filed petitions in court, saying the state owes them money because they were convicted of felonies and later exonerated and released. […]
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Gable’s attorneys, ODOJ in settlement talks for wrongful conviction

Attorneys for falsely convicted murderer Frank Gable and the Oregon Department of Justice are discussing settling his $2 million claim for being wrongly convicted and imprisoned. Gable was convicted of killing Oregon Corrections Director Michael Francke in 1991 and served nearly 30 years in prison before his conviction was overturned by four federal judges. Source: […]
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They Fought To Compensate The Wrongfully Convicted — But Most Haven’t Seen A Dime

“That was not the intention,” said state Sen. Kim Thatcher (R), who introduced the bill. “Not at all.” Lisa Roberts had just a few minutes to explain to a group of state lawmakers on a video conference call all that she had lost from being convicted of a murder she did not commit. It wasn’t […]
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Brothers of slain Oregon prison chief ask state, FBI to reopen the investigation of his 1989 fatal stabbing

The brothers of slain Oregon prison director Michael Francke have asked the state to reopen the investigation of his 1989 fatal stabbing in Salem now that the man prosecuted for the crime has been freed and won’t be retried. Request full-text (for State Agency patrons only) Source: Brothers of slain Oregon prison chief ask state, […]
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