QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I am incredibly happy for my client," said Gable's attorney Nell Brown, who represented Gable alongside fellow public defenders Mark Ahlemeyer and Roscoe Brown. "Although he will never get back the three decades of his life that he lost, this decision vindicates his steadfast claim of innocence and powerfully exposes the systemic flaws that led to his wrongful conviction."
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Both before and after Gable's conviction, rumors circulated that Francke was actually killed by a conspiracy of corrupt state officials that he was about to expose. The conspiracy theory was embraced by Francke's brothers Kevin and Patrick, who became the strongest supporters of Gable's innocence. The conspiracy theory was the subject of a recent {obj:66104:12-part iHeart radio podcast called "Murder in Oregon."} It was co-written by and featured former Oregonian and Portland Tribune columnist Phil Stanford, who was the first to report on it. KOIN 6 News also did an extensive special report on the case.
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "As Gable's expert explained, the investigators used widely discredited polygraph and interrogation techniques as a 'psychological club' to elicit the statements against Gable. The prosecution then built their entire case on that tainted foundation."
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STORY: "Gable innocence not to be appealed to the full U.S. Ninth Circuit," by Reporter Jim Redden, published by The Portland Tribune, on October 12, 2022.
SUB-HEADING: "Wrongly convicted murderer Frank Gable is closer to full freedom in Michael Francke case."
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Acosta also ruled Gable did not receive a fair trial because jurors were not allowed to learn that a petty criminal named Johnny Crouse had confessed to the murder, with details that had not been publicly released months before Gable was arrested and charged with the crime. The three-judge panel cited Crouse's confession in their ruling. "As discussed, Crouse's confessions have strong indicator of reliability. He confessed within months of the murder, multiple times, in several forms, to nearly unimpeachable witnesses and his family, with no apparent ulterior motive, and clearly against his penal interest," the new ruling said. Francke's murder is one of the most high-profile killings in Oregon's history. He was stabbed in the heart and bled to death outside his office in the department headquarters known as the Dome Building on Jan. 17, 1989. Despite Crouse's confession, no suspect was charged with the crime until Gable, 15 months after the killing. Gable was convicted in 1991. Crouse said he accidentally killed Francke during a scuffle when the corrections director caught him burglarizing his car. The confession was taken by Oregon Department of Justice criminal investigator Randy Martinek, who still believes Crouse was telling the truth. Crouse has since died. They also noted nearly all witnesses against Gable have since recanted their testimony. As a result, the judges ruled, no reasonable juror would vote to convict Gable if the trial were held today."
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GIST: "Frank Gable is one step closer to complete freedom.
The Oregon Department of Justice will not appeal the ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that he did not murder Michael Francke to the full court.
The deadline for such an appeal was Thursday, Oct. 13. The justice department still has until Dec. 29 to decide whether to appeal the panel's ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"We do NOT plan to seek rehearing by the Ninth Circuit. We are still considering whether to file a cert petition with the U.S. Supreme Court and likely won't decide that for at least a few more weeks," Oregon Assistant Attorney General told Michael Francke's lawyer in an Oct. 12 email.
Kevin and Patrick Francke have long believed Gable is innocent. After the deadline passed, they issued the following statement:
"We are more than pleased by the announcement from Assistant Attorney General Ben Gutman that the State would not pursue any further appeals to the Federal 9th District Court of Appeals.
"Our recent conversation with Mr. Gutman was open and productive. He has stated that his office is reviewing their position and considering an appeal to the US Supreme Court. This decision, as we remember from our conversation, should be made by the end of October.
"We strongly recommend that the Attorney General end this prosecution, which we consider a persecution of an innocent man, Frank Gable. He has suffered immeasurable physical and mental harm.
"We respectfully ask that they let him get on with his remaining years after almost 30 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Please!"
The Marion County District Attorney must also decide whether to retry Gable for the 1989 murder of the Oregon corrections director by Dec. 29.
"We also pray that the Marion County DA will follow suit and that the terrible wrong that has made Frank Gable's life a hell for these many years will be righted," the Francke brothers said.
"It is way past time for the Sate of Oregon on behalf of the citizens of Oregon to declare Frank Gable not guilty, innocent of the crime, and make apologies to the man and his family."
Gable had been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1989 murder of Oregon corrections director Michael Francke. But a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Gable's successful appeal of his conviction on Thursday, Sept. 29.
In a 30-page ruling, the panel upheld Oregon U.S. Magistrate Judge John Acosta's 2018 decision that Gable likely was innocent and that no reasonable jury would convict him given new evidence presented in his appeal.
"The facts on appeal are extraordinary," Circuit Court Judge Jacqueline Nguyen wrote in the opinion. "Since trial, nearly all the witnesses who directly implicated Gable have recanted. Many explain they intended to frame Gable after hearing he was a police informant. They attribute their false testimony to significant investigative misconduct, which the State — remarkably — does not dispute.
"As Gable's expert explained, the investigators used widely discredited polygraph and interrogation techniques as a 'psychological club' to elicit the statements against Gable. The prosecution then built their entire case on that tainted foundation."
Acosta also ruled Gable did not receive a fair trial because jurors were not allowed to learn that a petty criminal named Johnny Crouse had confessed to the murder, with details that had not been publicly released months before Gable was arrested and charged with the crime. The three-judge panel cited Crouse's confession in their ruling.
"As discussed, Crouse's confessions have strong indicator of reliability. He confessed within months of the murder, multiple times, in several forms, to nearly unimpeachable witnesses and his family, with no apparent ulterior motive, and clearly against his penal interest," the new ruling said.
Francke's murder is one of the most high-profile killings in Oregon's history. He was stabbed in the heart and bled to death outside his office in the department headquarters known as the Dome Building on Jan. 17, 1989. Despite Crouse's confession, no suspect was charged with the crime until Gable, 15 months after the killing. Gable was convicted in 1991.
Crouse said he accidentally killed Francke during a scuffle when the corrections director caught him burglarizing his car. The confession was taken by Oregon Department of Justice criminal investigator Randy Martinek, who still believes Crouse was telling the truth. Crouse has since died.
They also noted nearly all witnesses against Gable have since recanted their testimony. As a result, the judges ruled, no reasonable juror would vote to convict Gable if the trial were held today.
Citing the same facts, Acosta ruled in 2018 that Gable should either be released from prison or receive a new trial. The Oregon Department of Justice appealed Acosta's ruling. Gable was released in 2019, but would have gone back to prison if he lost the state's appeal.
"I am incredibly happy for my client," said Gable's attorney Nell Brown, who represented Gable alongside fellow public defenders Mark Ahlemeyer and Roscoe Brown. "Although he will never get back the three decades of his life that he lost, this decision vindicates his steadfast claim of innocence and powerfully exposes the systemic flaws that led to his wrongful conviction.
The Ninth Circuit decision makes clear that, with the full story told, no reasonable jury would convict him. I'm proud of our exceptional and dedicated Federal Public Defender team for doing the work to tell that story. I hope my client will finally be able to enjoy the life he has created for himself in the community without this case hanging over him," said Brown.
Both before and after Gable's conviction, rumors circulated that Francke was actually killed by a conspiracy of corrupt state officials that he was about to expose.
The conspiracy theory was embraced by Francke's brothers Kevin and Patrick, who became the strongest supporters of Gable's innocence.
The conspiracy theory was the subject of a recent {obj:66104:12-part iHeart radio podcast called "Murder in Oregon."} It was co-written by and featured former Oregonian and Portland Tribune columnist Phil Stanford, who was the first to report on it. KOIN 6 News also did an extensive special report on the case.
"This has been too long coming," Patrick Francke said. after the ruling was released. "I believe Mike Francke is pleased, because of his personal history as a deputy attorney general and district court judge and secretary of corrections, that no one should be wrongly convicted. The state of Oregon and Marion County DA have ignored the facts on favor of pursuing an agenda. It has cost Frank Gable over 30 years of his life. We're happy and excited for him and his family, but their lives will be forever scarred."
The Francke's have set up a GoFund Me campaign to raise money for Gable."
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resurce. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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