Exposé: Skeletons Falling Out of the Closet of Oregon Corrections

Defying all odds, a black prison guard took on a corrupt state system and in the face of massive retaliation, was found not guilty by a unanimous jury.

(SALEM, Ore.) - Once in a great while, a corrupt system meets its match. The Oregon Dept. of Corrections is in big trouble, and the subject of a huge Exposé that will play out on these pages, in an upcoming book, and also as part of a television documentary.

Criminal collaboration between governmental agencies builds an unhealthy alliance. Lies and innuendo keep things confused. In this case, years passed and lies were almost continually injected into a story created by state officials to frame a black man over racism. After you know the details of this story, you will likely believe that Oregon, at this point, has nothing close to a sound or non-corrupt prison system.

Enter William Coleman, a man who has a lot in common with Michael Francke, fallen former Director of Oregon's Dept. of Corrections, who was murdered in the DOC's parking lot one dark night in January of 1989.

In what way? Start with their common refusal to be complicit to unlawful behavior.

Coleman's successful outcome in a long, grueling and expensive case constructed against him by state officials, features the most unique set of circumstances in the history of this country. Nobody has ever fought this level of retaliation and come out this far ahead.

The number of racially motivated crimes in the Oregon Corrections Dept. and the list of accompanying names documented by Coleman, is long. He is a thorough and dedicated reporter in his own right, documenting every single step in his years-long struggle to seek, and actually find justice.

There is a great deal of evidence that demonstrates the retaliation he suffered for blowing the whistle on racism, but the smoking gun in this story, was a 'People' Magazine that a black inmate subscribed to.

Before this magazine, a piece of federal mail, arrived in the inmate's cell, someone had written profane, racially-provoked comments in it with a felt tip marker; the story was about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's adopted black child. The foul scrawl about a tiny child was in writing that Coleman recognized, that of a particular white guard who, in his opinion, wasn't above doing something like this.

It was very personal; William Coleman has a white son and is sensitive to discriminatory behavior. So, he did what he was supposed to do. After being advised of the situation by the inmate who received the magazine, Coleman told his superiors.

Rather than questioning the guard Coleman believed to be responsible, they took the inmate out of his cell and placed him in solitary, but not before he was able to hand the magazine off to another inmate for safekeeping. The DOC went through his cell and Coleman says they were peeved at not finding the magazine in question. Later Coleman contacted the inmate holding the magazine, and that is why we are able to include a photo copy of it in this article.

In the movie about the death of Michael Francke, 'Without Evidence', Angelina Jolie plays the role of Jodie Swearingen. Swearingen was a 17-year old Salem, Oregon drug addict who was more than groomed, she was forced to provide false testimony under threat of a prison sentence, by corrupt law enforcement officials, many of whom are still in state employment. This is what she told everyone, except for the jury in the Frank Gable trial. She said she had to do what she did, and the jury used her words to convict Gable for Francke's murder. According to taped interviews, Swearingen's actions seemed to really bother her, though after the fact, and she insisted that Gable was not guilty.

20 years later Gable is still imprisoned. We had no idea until connecting these dots, that Jolie would actually be related, in an indirect way, to Coleman's case through the child adoption photo, and that she also played a key character in the movie about Francke's death. It is a small world.

On the subject of movies, William Coleman bears a striking resemblance to the character portrayed by Michael Clarke Duncan in 'The Green Mile' with Tom Hanks. Coleman was raised in Georgia and knows all about racial discrimination toward blacks. He thought, falsely, that Oregon was better about such things.

Time after time officials could have done the right thing; responded to Coleman's documented reports of problematic racism, but each time they instead worked to avoid it, or dismiss it, rather than address or resolve it. He says a common line was, "We know it is here, but you could never prove it." They spoke too soon.

People should be ashamed of themselves, someone along the way should have done the right thing, and finally they did, but it was a jury, not the supposed trusted state officials that tax dollars pay for.

Like Francke, Coleman is from a different U.S. state and not part of the Oregon 'good old boy' network, as many call it. Like Francke, William Coleman chose to expose the corruption of the Oregon State Penitentiary.

The corrupt really have no trustworthy confidants. As it turns out, sadly, neither did William Coleman, but for extremely different reasons.

The biggest difference between the Michael Francke case and Coleman's, is that William Coleman is alive, and he will be staying that way.

I am writing a book about William Coleman's incredible story this summer. Never did anyone expect anything of this magnitude to emerge from the courts, so completely corroborated. He says the problem with Oregon's efforts to wrongly convict him stems from the fact that, "they put all of their eggs in one basket."

It appears to be a very solid theory. State officials never expected Coleman to take the matter in front of a jury, they offered him a plea deal multiple times.

Nor did they think he would bring forward a witness who could - and did - expose numerous members of the DOC staff for corruption.

The same witness told the jury that Oregon State Police investigators specifically asked him to testify that Coleman had smuggled cigarettes into the prison and was corrupt. Instead, the witness told the jury the names of white officers, who he said actually are corrupt. The witness further stated that he would have much preferred to deal contraband with a black guard (instead of the guards he named), but he said, "Coleman was clean."

Out of the hundreds of inmates interviewed in an effort to find some willing to testify against Coleman, the only two who agreed to work with the state were bona fide white racists from the EK (European Kindred gang), along with a Salem woman who is also romantically involved with, you guessed it... a white racist inmate. This is who the Marion County prosecutor relied on to convict Coleman, a law officer with no criminal record.

Racial prejudice allowed this to happen. That ignorance compounded with other similar behaviors resulted in the state's weakest and yet most vicious attempt to frame an innocent man, and we have them dead to rights.

It is one thing for a prosecutor to press a case they believe in, it is another for a prosecutor, like Marion County's Brad Orrio, to take a case that could well be false and just plain wrong.

Long before he apparently realized he had to prosecute this bogus case, Orrio made a statement to a local reporter that is coming back to haunt him like an angry ghost.

Before trying to send Coleman up the river, he said this about the case, "With prison cases, in my experience, they are the most susceptible to going down the toilet because the inmates are so great at manipulating witnesses and getting information through the grapevine. So I'm pretty tight-lipped about this case."

Then he turned around and prosecuted the case with passion. He forgot, however, to mention the racist profanity in People Magazine, the fact that his witnesses against the black guard were neo-Nazi's, and he also hadn't anticipated Coleman mentioning the Nazi movie that the white corrections officers had played for the inmates, called "The Falling", which examined the last days of Adolph Hitler's life. I have not seen the movie, but Coleman says, "It is the last thing any sane person would do: play a crazy movie with all those heil Hitler salutes, in the most racially sensitive environment on earth."

The people in this case according to Coleman; every investigator involved, would be better suited for writing Hollywood fiction, 'b' movies of course, than reports as badged representatives of any government.

I'm not even beginning to scratch the surface. And for the record, all of the documentation is in multiple places, very secure, and we'll not be deterred. It is all a matter of record.

In summary, William Coleman endured and survived the unthinkable. He was exposed to extreme racism, blew the whistle in accordance with established law, and then watched the organized retaliation begin. They turned on him.

Over and over, in unexpected ways, from agencies including Corrections, the Marion County District Attorney, Oregon State Police, Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI), the state insurance fund (SAIF), the Marion County Sheriff's Office and even Salem Police, William Coleman was the victim of lies and official collaboration.

Strong words, yes, but again - it is all a matter of record. Whereas many say the state boldly stood together to oversee and cover up (very poorly) the Michael Francke Murder, they greatly underestimated William Coleman.

Let's put it this way: a sixth grader could figure it out. The story speaks volumes about the lack of integrity and character in Oregon state officials and the agencies they run.

I want to coin a term that is long overdue, that is "Frivolous Prosecution". An existing legal term to represent the act is "malicious prosecution". We know "frivolous lawsuit" from the last presidential administration, now it is time to bring the chickens home to roost. Frivolous Prosecution is a far bigger problem in society than many realize.

Sadly, Oregon is too thoroughly involved in this story. At this point it seems virtually impossible to consider the state having any ability to look at this in an impartial manner. A resolution to this this matter will require the feds.

Perhaps one of the ugliest marks on Oregon's landscape for the past 21 years, is the common belief that Michael Francke's killer was the state of Oregon itself. It is tragic that so many years have passed since this alleged organized act of injustice.

A Vietnam Veteran, Mr. Francke was hired by former Oregon Governor Neil Goldschmidt to overhaul the troubled and failing Oregon Corrections System.

Francke had been in place for just over a year when he was exposed to something very unacceptable during a 'team building' session of top DOC officials at a retreat. We don't know exactly what happened that day to upset Francke so much that he cut the several day retreat short on his first day and drove home.

We do know that the former Oregon Assistant Attorney General Scott McAlister, who is suspected of knowing more about Francke's death if nothing else, went on to become convicted of a crime related to child pornography. Every one should find that more than a little disconcerting. I wonder what they were all doing during that retreat that shocked and dismayed Michael Francke so much.

Coleman's case is different from all others, because as much as they drug him through the mud, falsifying charges, claiming to have witnesses who never existed, ensuring that all state agencies worked in a manner that would force him to his knees, etc., he outsmarted them.

Personally I don't know what part of Coleman's story is the worst, there is a series of so many equally disgusting illegal acts from state officials that it is hard to know what the 'worst' is.

Needless to say, if you have information about corruption inside the Oregon State Corrections system, or if you know particulars about the Michael Francke case, please write to me at: tim@salem-news.com. We are not looking for anything on William Coleman's case, as it is a wrap.

STAY TUNED TO SALEM-NEWS.COM FOR PART 3 IN THIS ONGOING SERIES

Written by: Tim King
Editor: Bonnie King

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It's all about money August 31, 2010 8:22 am (Pacific time)

http://blog.oregonlive.com/steveduin/2007/11/charles_turner_weighs_in_on_tr.html

It's all about money August 31, 2010 8:25 am (Pacific time)

Malicious prosecution by legal pretense? "This is so repugnant to me that it's hard to imagine," said Turner, who served as U.S. Attorney in Oregon from 1982 to 1993" ..."This is really gross negligence and a testimony to incompetence," Turner said. "We're destroying the life of a young boy and that's very troubling."
blog.oregonlive.com/steveduin/2007/11/charles_turner_weighs_in_on_tr.html

Judicial complicity & twisted Justic August 31, 2010 8:15 am (Pacific time)

When a Oregon Grand Jury failed to indict an accused, the local prosecutor, with the complicity of Oregon Department of Justice and a judge, (and failure of the "defense" attorney doing anything)went on with the case. By Karen McCowan, July 2010, The Register-Guard registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/updates/25023784-55/simmons-richkind-case-oregon-court.csp

unnamed, for the sake of my freedom! August 30, 2010 5:12 pm (Pacific time)

I knew Mr. Gable at the time of his arrest. I lived in sight-distance of his apartment. My statements to the State Police were wholly ignored. Having worked within the State of Oregon myself, I still knew not to say or know to much; sadly I have always known that Gable is innocent. Unfortunately, I really can't go into extreme detail with any of my knowledge, because although I am rather "upstanding," I have had some untoward incidents with the Salem Police Department, as well as highly PARTIAL treatment within Marian County Court. Judges there refuse to take valid oaths of office, even though Justice Carson told them that they MUST. The entire system is damaged, and those who attempt change are targeted, as your story highlights. There are individuals that were involved in the "scene" (back when Gable was doing his drugs, but NOT killing Franke) like Natividad (killed by his girlfriend) most likely the killer, but conveniently not around during the prosecution of Gable. Dead men tell no tales. When you are on the side of the truth, yet must keep your mouth shut because of VALID fear of retribution . . . well, it kinda sucks in this day and age. The SJ refuses to acknowledge major concerns touching upon any "politiKs", period. I'd like to name names and tell tales, and though I am "virtually" untouchable, have met with biased police in every situation I've been involved. (There is an ongoing case against the Powers That Be, yet the victim has had to move far enough away for his own safety.) Legally, every judge who has refused to take a valid oath of office means vacated verdicts, too pervasive, too numerous to acknowledge. Every politician, policeman, etc., who has been "sworn in" by another who (immediately, or) somewhere down the line hasn't taken a valid OATH means a huge amounts of POWER operating as they *wish,* not according to law. It is pervasive. The Statesman Journal has refused to publish *any* of many cases ruled over by the corrupt powers-that-be. From your presiding judge to every "public pretender" who "profits" by half-assed representation of their clients (and beyond) -- were the public defenders to actually proffer a legitimate defense, they'd be "fired" from future assignment. It's IMPOSSIBLE to counter the decisions made by defense counsel in the middle of a trial (where in this case, two witnesses were ignored -- which very likely was of "planned" in the judge's chambers just prior to the event at hand.) It sickens me. Thank G-d that I am out of the local jurisdiction. Report on, Mr. King, but watch your A$$! (you've certainly got more cahones than I!)

Rob Taylor-www.freefrankgable.com July 25, 2010 7:51 am (Pacific time)

Nice digging lying prosecutor. Like deja vu from Gable's trial indeed. Sickening how Kulongoski's payola appointment for Penn is so obvious but nobody out there is really paying attention or even caring. Guess we'll just havta see if the voters keep him on the bench. Conspiring to withold third-party guilt evidence is a favorite of Penn''s obviously. It's also probably the "one" violation that occurred at Gable's trial which violated his constitutional right to present his best defense. IMO it is Gable's only hope of securing a new trial through the federal appeals process. Unfortunately it's still going to be quite some time before the argument can be heard in fed court due to Gable's case being stalled in state court over a ridiculous and time-wasting resentencing argument that has now lingered for five years.

lying prosecutors July 23, 2010 10:02 pm (Pacific time)

images.bimedia.net/documents/Cannon-+Fed+Complaint+final.pdf Please read this document. It will blow your mind! Dale Penn, now a Marion County Judge, while a Marion County prosecutor, colluded with another D.A. in Polk County. Penn is mentioned on page 17 in the above lawsuit for malicious prosecution. What Penn did to help the Polk County D.A. convict an innocent man (by conspiring to help withhold third-party guilt evidence from the defendant, Cannon) wasn't his first time. Penn did it in the Michael Francke murder case with Tim Natividad's autopsy, and police reports about Natividad's murder. Judge eWEt refused to order them revealed to Gable's defense team, upon Penn's promise there was nothing that connected the cases. Dale Penn, the D.A. who got away with withholding files from Frank Gable's lawyers in the Francke murder case, tries to help another D.A. do the same thing regarding Defendant Phillip Scott Cannon. Cannon was convicted, spent ten years in prison, and now, his conviction is finally overturned due t, in part, the withholding of third-party exculpatory evidence found in the case Penn claimed (in a letter to Cannon's trial Judge in Polk County) was not related. How many innocent defendants has Dale Penn, now a Judge thanks to his payola appointment by the Governor Kulongoski, put away? For the most part, qualified immunity protects prosecutors from being sued for these shenanigans, however, there are sometimes a basis for a lawsuit to get a trial. Quote from page 17 of 52. "During the summer of 1999, Plaintiff’s attorneys were having much difficulty obtaining discovery from Polk DA/DOJ. During a pretrial hearing in mid August 1999, Judge Luukinen admonished Polk DA/DOJ for “playing games with a man’s life.” Polk DA/DOJ at that time was denying that it had access to or possession of any of the discovery from the Ennis case in neighboring Marion County. The District Attorney from Marion County, Dale Penn, wrote Judge Luukinen to state that he that was familiar with both cases and claimed that they were not related. Polk DA/DOJ claimed that they were not in possession of any discovery material from the Ennis case. Judge Luukinen subsequently ordered Polk DA/DOJ to comply with Plaintiff’s request for discovery. A few days later, Krauger turned over a massive file containing discovery from the Ennis case,claiming in a sworn affidavit that he had apparently over-looked it for several months."

ailene July 18, 2010 6:52 pm (Pacific time)

So refreshing....we all know that the real murderer is not behind bars....Franke was on to something big and they didn't want him to spill it. Our neighbor lady always told us it had to do with a lady in Falls City...she was a volunteer and was the adopted grandma by a lot of guys on the inside.

Rob Taylor-www.freefrankgable.com July 3, 2010 12:26 pm (Pacific time)

Much better "armed and unarmed friend." Still, you know how I hate it when alias's are used. It's all good though. I guess an alias has it's place at times as I'm about to exhibit.

Rooster's friends huh? Like RS and livcarcass? Livcarcass because he's a cripple confined to a wheelchair these days due to being shot by his wife/girlfriend Angie Ford. Interesting picture livcarcass sent me of Kevin and Liz Francke (actually not married at the time) along with Phil Stanford, kicking it with Angie Ford and Roger Box. 'Ol Phil looked to have quite a buzz on. Drink in hand even. I wonder what this little get-together accomplished. Angie was a stripper BTW. Phil does like to hang with strippers, as well as write about them. Anyway, I'm still curious how Angie got away with shooting livcarcass without being charged. I mean, even Liz Godlove/Francke was charged for nearly emptying a .44 magnum in Rooster's gut at close range precisely two weeks after the Francke murder. She was acquitted of course...within a mere four months, using a domestic violence defense uncorrobarated by any other testimony other than her own. There were no witnesses. Just Liz's testimony that she feared for her life and shot Rooster in self defense. Oh, we can believe her alright cuz Kevin Francke read her trial transcript and he believes her testimony. LOL! Yep, that's all I need to prove she's being truthful. LOL! Course Kevin claims he doesn't have a copy of that transcript which is strange to me cuz I'd have framed the thing myself. Know what I mean?

Doesn't appear to be available from the court anymore either. I tried through a local Salem attorney. Was told it was destroyed in the courthouse fire that guy started when he ran his pickup into the building. How convenient.

Then there's that RS guy. What a character he is. Mr. big time meth cook who knew everyone on both sides of the law. Says he even dated Sarah Moore, Gable's prosecutor. Claimed he gave Rooster a stolen gun that he got from Gary Gortmaker and pals and thinks it's the same gun Liz killed Rooster with. Sorry RS, Kevin says the gun was clean cuz he knows. He read the transcript and all. LOL! RS also claimed that Rooster was with him the entire night before he was killed. Sorry RS, wrong again. Tim was with Liz all night making her life a total hell, forcing her to play russian roulette. Kevin said so. He knows. Liz has told him all about it, and that was her testimony in court. LOL!

Ok, ok, so I realize Greg Johnson/Kellcy wrote me and told me that him and Tim met RS at his shop the night of the Francke murder when they drove up in that Z car that RS has always claimed was already in his shop for weeks. So that does kinda corroborate RS's claim that he may have been with Tim the rest of the night, but geez, this is all so confusing ya know? So many different stories. Well, maybe Kevin is getting it all figured out with RS on his Facebook friend list and all.

What I've figured out is if you spend enough time spewing a bunch of garbage about this case that only further confuses an already confusing case you can get on Kevin's friend list. Hey maybe I'll rate now. ROFL! Hey, I wonder if I missed out on that big vacation in the sun that RS promised Kevin and I from the money RS's alter-ego DP was supposed to get for popping a cap in a terrorist over in Iraq.

My favorite of all though was when RS claimed he knew my wife and that him and DP took her out for pizza in PDX before we moved to Iowa. Claimed he gave my wife some money to help her get away from me cuz I was abusing her and that's why she was getting a job transfer to Iowa, and on and on.

armed & unarmed /ps July 1, 2010 2:03 am (Pacific time)

I am sorry for what William Coleman and Gregory Charles were put through to prove their innocence and how racism and "snitch jackets" put on a prisoner plays such a disturbing role in prison life.

It has been 21 years since January 18, 1989 when a lone security guard found Michael Francke's body on the N. Portico of the Dome building and Lady justice scales still hangs in the balance and we are left wanting. Wanting to know the real truth of what happened that fateful evening from an untruth of a bungled car burglary to a hit on Michael Francke, which most of us have come to realize took place.

I look at this picture of the patch that is suppose to stand up for Oregon Correction Officers and the public wants to believe that the ones who wear this patch stand for integrity to whom they serve. Sometimes this does not always ring true.

Tim Natividad had two friends that know of one particular prison guard at the time of Michael Francke's death, who did not serve his shortsleeve patch well. One says he looks alot like Sylvester Stalone. The other says, like the actor, "Cha Chi." This patch can hold power over the ones to give, serve, and put fear in the prisoner's with one word of a snitch jacket on them (rat) along with racism. Frank Gable has had to jump this hurdle for along time, while some know he is really serving time for where they should be themselves.

Michael Francke's blood spilled that night in front of the Dome building in '89' and is at peace. Tim Natividad's blood spilled, also, and still crys out for peace.

Greg Johnson Kellcy says that Tim Natividad was his friend, also, and did time for Natividad to prove his loyalty to him. Nigel Jaquiss of Willamette Week did the story on Kellcy on 10/10/07 - "Should you Believe this Man?" Greg says Tim Natividad killed Michael Francke that evening in front of the Dome building, which I believe is true. Michael and Kris Keerins were, also, seen that evening at the Dome building. Yet, they at the time of Francke's death wanted Greg Johnson Kellcy to testify he was with them and Tim Natividad that evening. It starts to add up who was all there that evening at the Dome building. Yet, the police could not do their work because of the lies put forth and Kris Keerins getting a lawyer right off the bat. There it goes to the weakess link, Frank Gable. Frank Gable was set up from the beginning and with a faulty lawyer to represent him at trial. Thus, the crooked road to prison time. At least, Mr. Coleman saw the setup right in the beginning and fought it all the way.

Meg Hanson, who was working in the Dome building that January 17th day and struggling with a copier that had malfunctioned the minute she got to work with a Kodak rep there that day and friends of Scott McAlister, believes the copier repairman that finally showed up that evening was a plant. A perfect cover story. Each had their own alibi that unprecedented evening, including McAlister. Frank Gable didn't see it coming. Mainly, he was not included in that inner circle of friends. At least, he is proud of his Indian heritage.

Queen of Hearts, ex-salem sees the same flaws to this story that does not add up. Just like the rest of us. Corruption at top levels right down to the street level. It is a book yet to be published.

Tim King: Thanks for your comment, and FYI Luke Easter is from out of the area, and he is black; not the person who you suggest, as Luke was introduced to the whole story recently by me.

Joe June 22, 2010 8:14 pm (Pacific time)

Looks like another swing and a miss by SN. Coleman at the least ...

Editor: I'd say good try Joe, but lying is not a good thing, so I can't say it. I've never heard of anyone so far in the clear as William Coleman. You guys did your best to set him up and you never imagined that he would take this false set of charges to a jury. Our readers will be learning all of the gritty details this summer; the story validates my long standing point about racists not being a very bright lot. I have never seen agencies and individuals step into it so deep. I was just going over the paperwork tonight, 'not guilty on all counts' sure says a lot. You on the other hand, now get to know what it feels like to make a point and have nobody hear it.

Anonymous June 22, 2010 12:49 pm (Pacific time)

Coleman is...

Editor: Hey, a minute ago your name was Bryce St. John, having an identity crisis? I have your racist comment and your IP saved, IP goes public next time you dirty racist punk.

Janet June 21, 2010 11:03 pm (Pacific time)

Good luck with that book Tim!

Hank Ruark June 20, 2010 10:00 am (Pacific time)

S/Wondering: If stories factual and well documented, NOW you know where to bring those facts for the kind of pro-journalism long missing from midstreamers.

still wondering June 19, 2010 9:19 pm (Pacific time)

Ha do you realize that you could keep uncovering corrupt issues, like changing dates to make things fit, how higher up people will agree things happened and get moved so they will shut up...yea, many of us have many stories and proof, but just didn't have the money to go head to head.

Editor: Understood, I want this to be the start of something that delivers justice on many levels. It is so damned hard to fight this system, but Mr. Coleman's story shows that anything is indeed possible.

Hank Ruark June 19, 2010 10:43 am (Pacific time)

Kevin R.: Thank you for responsible action in signing your comment. See www.ajr.com for current issue comment by editor of major journalistic magazine re importance of essential responsibility, protecting the First Amendment via that action, supporting its "golden coin" of democratic statement.

Douglas Benson June 19, 2010 8:06 am (Pacific time)

Pretty typical for the ODOC when I was in EOCI there was a group of inmates that started a lawsuit because of the lack of medical attention .The gaurds got wind of it rounded up the inmates tossed them in the hole and took all thier paperwork .Too late it turns out they had allready gotten legal representation and it was on. These brave souls spent the rest of thier time in the hole but they won , the ODC had to change thier policies ,and pay lots of money to the lawyers . If any inmate threatens the status quo they find themselves in the hole ,thier legal work gone,thier legal mail missing ,the diesel treatment [moved from institution to institution ]ect ect.
I was much more afraid of the gaurds than any inmate .The second time I was in ,I had a cellmate that every single person was afraid of gaurds and inmates alike .They said watch your back he is known to knock guys out and rape them ect .Nicest cellie I had .So I asked him WTF .There was one story about him knocking out a guys eye .He said "the gaurds sometimes send inmates to my cell ,tell me they are no good and I take care of them .In return I get a lot of favors ,cell assignments ,contraband ,ect." And buddy I never saw any inmate that inspired fear in the gaurds like this guy ,or had the pull to get moved at will ect.
Anyway Ive got stories for days ,and if you want to dig up dirt I know a few places to dig . Powder River comes to mind .So does the inmate pay scam . A funny thing happened on my second trip to prison for marijuana .When I was in the snake pit I got a job sheet that said I had been working in the kitchen at EOCI for 13 years but I only served 15 months .Sounds a little fishy huh?
Anyhow like I said I could go on and on about the ODOC and the Frankie case [I know a lot of the players and why they testified ,as well as a few others that never made it to the stand. ] Im out for now. Peace

Tim King: Douglas, you are a good person for sharing this, thanks!

KPR June 18, 2010 12:14 pm (Pacific time)

Thanks for spreading the word of Mr. Coleman's case against this corrupt state and the outcome of their witch hunt; or 'frivolous prosecution' as you call it. I quit reading the Oregonian and watching local and federal televised 'news' a few years ago now, so I had not heard of this case until now. I'll keep your website handy. It is clear you are a 'jounalist'.... a species as rare as the California Condor. Thank you. Kevin Ryan Mt Hood, Oregon

Tonya June 18, 2010 10:48 am (Pacific time)

I Believe there is corruption in the court and correction divisions. Because my husband was wrong accused and was charged with a felony when it should have been no more then a misdemeanor by the Marion county DA's office 13 years ago. We are still suffering from that conviction and now trying to fight it.

Henry Clay Ruark June 18, 2010 10:24 am (Pacific time)

Great job on this series, Tim/Bon ! Generally juries know what the hell is the truth, and most will act on it. Speak from a special Grand Jury assignment where was put in foreman role. We used solid group/process for over 400 cases, with all but two ending with unanimous jury decision. SO for that to happen here, too, builds extremely strong credibility for both the case and your detailed story about it.

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Exposé: Skeletons Falling Out of the Closet of Oregon Corrections

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