PORTLAND, Ore. (PORTLAND TRIBUNE) — Things got heated during the Oregon US District Court status conference on the future of wrongly convicted murderer Frank Gable on Monday, May 1.
Magistrate Judge John Acosta, who overturned Gable’s conviction for murder Oregon Correction Director Michael Francke, chewed out the Marion County District Attorney’s Office and the Oregon Department of Justice for not being prepared to say whether they would now retry Gable or drop the charges against him.
Acosta told them to make that choice within 90 days of his April 18, 2019, ruling. He stopped the clock from running while the justice department appealed his ruling all the way up to the US Supreme Court, which rejected the appeal on April 24 of this year. The justice department agreed to release Gable during the appeal.
Acosta started the Monday conference by saying there were only 10 more days to retry Gable or drop the charges — then started fuming when Oregon Solicitor General Benjamin Gutman told him they want to put Gable on unconditional release and take as long as necessary to decide whether to retry him instead.
“I can honestly say that I do not understand how the state thinks they can do both,” seethed Acosta, who nevertheless gave the justice department 10 days to file its claim for such authority.
Read the full story on the Portland Tribune’s website.
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