PORTLAND — The state has changed its mind, agreeing to release convicted killer Frank Gable under federal supervision and with certain conditions while it appeals a judge’s ruling ordering his retrial, according to the Oregon Federal Public Defender’s Office.
Gable, now 59, has served nearly 30 years in prison since he was convicted of murder for the 1989 stabbing death of Oregon prison chief Michael Francke in one of the most notorious and debated murder cases in modern state history.
If U.S. District Judge John V. Acosta agrees, Gable would be released from the prison in Lansing, Kan., where he’s been held since 2014, and placed under federal supervision in that state, according to a proposal outlined in a court filing Friday by Assistant Public Defender Nell Brown, who is representing Gable.
“Mr. Gable has served nearly thirty years in prison for a conviction that is, at worst, the wrongful conviction of an innocent man, and, at best, the product of a trial rife with highly suspect evidence and marred by errors of a constitutional magnitude,” Brown wrote.
Her motion for Gable’s release is unopposed by the state, according to court records.
Brown wrote that she’s continuing to confer with Assistant Attorney General Samuel Kubernick on the appropriate conditions for Gable’s release.
Rainy Storm, Gable’s wife of several years, lives in Kansas and has agreed to have him live with her. She has indicated she would help him find a job, according to the court records. Gable also has been in regular contact with his sister and her husband, who live nearby.
“Release there will provide support and continuity for Mr. Gable during his transition from incarceration to life in the community, all of which is in the public interest,” Brown wrote.
If released from custody, Gable would begin three years of supervision for an unrelated 1991 federal conviction for possessing a gun as a felon. He was sentenced to eight years and nine months for that charge, to run consecutively to the state murder case.
Attorneys from both sides are working to have Gable’s lengthy time in state custody credited for his federal sentence.
Gable’s attorneys would support the state’s motion for the court to delay any retrial in the Francke case until the state’s appeal of a recent ruling is heard.
