Case 3:07-cv-00413-AC Document 168 Filed 04/18/19 Page 1 of 94 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF OREGON FRANK E. GABLE, Civil No. 3:07-cv-00413-AC Petitioner, OPINION AND ORDER v. MAX WILLIAMS, Respondent. NELL BROWN Assistant Federal Public Defender MARK AHLEMEYER Assistant Federal Public Defender 101 SW Main Street Suite 1700 Portland, OR 97204 ELLEN M. ROSENBLUM Attorney General NICHOLAS A. KALLSTROM Assistant Attorney General SAMUEL A. KUBERNICK Assistant Attorney General Department of Justice 1162 Court Street NE Salem, OR 97301 Attorneys for Respondent OPINION AND ORDER 1 Case 3:07-cv-00413-AC Document 168 Filed 04/18/19 Page 2 of 94 ACOSTA, Magistrate Judge: In June 1991, a jury convicted Frank Gable (“Gable”) of six counts of Aggravated Murder and one count of Murder. The next month, at the conclusion of the penalty phase, the trial court sentenced Gable to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Gable has been serving his life sentence since that time. Gable filed this habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in March 2007 and amended his petition in March 2014 to add a claim of actual innocence. Although he exhausted his direct appeals and his post-conviction relief (“PCR”) process, nineteen of Gable’s twenty grounds for habeas relief are procedurally defaulted, but Gable urges this court to excuse his defaulted claims under the “actual innocence” standard that the Supreme Court established in Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298 (1995). This is a stringent standard satisfied “only in the extraordinary case.” House v. Bell, 547 U.S. 518, 538 (2006) (concluding petitioner “has made the stringent showing required by this exception”) (internal quotation marks omitted). This is such a case. Gable has presented a colorable claim of actual innocence. Accordingly, the court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Gable’s Amended Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (ECF No. 61).1 SUMMARY OF PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On January 17, 1989, the director of the Oregon Department of Corrections, Michael Francke, was stabbed to death. An Oregon State Hospital (“OSH”) security guard discovered his body on the covered North Porch of the Dome Building, which sits on the OSH grounds in Salem, 1 All parties have consented to allow a Magistrate Judge to enter final orders and judgment in this case in accordance with Fed. R. Civ. P. 73 and 28 U.S.C. § 636(c). OPINION AND ORDER 2 Case 3:07-cv-00413-AC Document 168 Filed 04/18/19 Page 3 of 94 Oregon. Following an extensive investigation, in April 1990, a Marion County grand jury indicted Gable on six counts of Aggravated Murder and one count of Murder.2 Resp. Exh. 103. The trial court appointed Robert Abel and John Storkel to represent Gable. The case proceeded to a jury trial which lasted approximately four months, beginning in March 1991 and ending in July 1991. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury found Gable guilty on all counts. Resp. Exh. 104. Following a penalty phase proceeding, the trial court sentenced Gable to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Resp. Exh. 104. Gable appealed, and in a written opinion the Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s judgment and sentence. State v. Gable, 127 Or. App. 320, 873 P.2d 351 (1994). The Oregon Supreme Court denied review. State v. Gable, 319 Or. 274, 877 P.2d 1202 (1994). Gable then sought state post-conviction relief (“PCR”). Following an evidentiary hearing, the PCR trial court denied relief. Resp. Exh. 345. Gable appealed. The Oregon Court of Appeals granted relief on one claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, and remanded the case to the PCR trial court to determine whether Gable suffered prejudice. Gable v. State, 203 Or. App. 710, 126 P.3d 739 (2006). The Oregon Supreme Court denied review of this decision. Gable v. State, 341 Or. 216, 140 P.3d 1133 (2006). On remand, following a second evidentiary hearing, the PCR trial court found Gable did not demonstrate prejudice and denied all relief. Resp. Exh. 371. On appeal, the Oregon Court of 2 Count I alleged that the murder was related to the performance of Francke’s “official duties.” Count II alleged that he was killed during an attempted first-degree robbery. Counts III and IV alleged that Francke was killed to conceal the commission of, and the identity of the perpetrator of, a first degree robbery. Counts V and VI alleged that Francke was killed to conceal the commission of, and identity of the perpetrator of, an attempted theft. Count VII alleged intentional murder. OPINION AND ORDER 3 Case 3:07-cv-00413-AC Document 168 Filed 04/18/19 Page 4 of 94 Appeals affirmed without opinion. Gable v. State, 243 Or. App. 389, 256 P.3d 1099 (2011). The Oregon Supreme Court granted Gable’s request for review, and in a written opinion affirmed the second PCR trial court’s decision. Gable v. State, 353 Or. 750, 305 P.3d 85, cert. denied, 571 U.S. 1030 (2013). Gable now seeks habeas corpus relief from this court. In his Amended Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, Gable alleges twenty grounds for relief. In his Brief in Support of the Amended Petition, Gable does not address all of the grounds for relief, but instead addresses two claims of trial-court error, several claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, and one claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. With the exception of the claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel for failure to object at sentencing on ex post facto grounds, Gable’s claims are procedurally defaulted. Gable contends the “actual innocence” standard established in Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298 (1995), excuses his procedural default. Gable also argues the default of certain ineffective assistance of trial counsel claims should be excused under Martinez v. Ryan, 566 U.S. 1, 132 S. Ct. 1309 (2012). FACTUAL BACKGROUND I. The State Court Proceedings A. The State’s Case at Trial At trial, the state contended that at approximately 7:00 p.m. on January 17, 1989, in the parking circle in front of the Dome Building, Michael Francke interrupted Gable as Gable burgled Francke’s car to get “snitch papers.” Under this theory, Gable lunged out at Francke from inside the car, stabbed Francke three times and inflicted the fatal blow, then ran west across 23rd Street into OPINION AND ORDER 4 Case 3:07-cv-00413-AC Document 168 Filed 04/18/19 Page 5 of 94 the Old Salem General Hospital complex. Gable then drove north on Medical Center Drive and turned right on D Street. Meanwhile, Francke, mortally wounded, made his way back to the North Porch of the Dome Building, where he died from blood and oxygen loss after unsuccessfully attempting to open the locked porch door by punching out a window. 1. The Murder and the Crime Scene On January 17, 1989, Michael Francke attended a meeting at the Dome Building, which then housed the administrative offices of the Oregon Department of Corrections (“ODOC”).3 Tr. 7075. After the meeting ended, Francke met with several of his co-workers in his office until approximately 6:30 p.m. Tr. 8878. Francke was last seen alive by one of his co-workers just before that co-worker left for home at approximately 6:50 p.m. Tr. 7080. Francke had stated he intended to call his wife before heading home. Tr. 8878. When the co-worker left, he walked by Francke’s car and did not notice anything unusual. Tr. 7080, 8882-84. At approximately 7:07 p.m., five people going to a group counseling meeting passed by the front of the Dome Building and noticed a white car parked in front with its door standing open. Tr. 6922-23, 6927. At approximately 7:15 or 7:20 p.m., two more of Francke’s co-workers left for home, and noticed as they left that the dome light was on in Francke’s car. Tr. 6940-41. On further inspection, they realized that the car door was standing open, and they went back in the building to 3Due to the voluminous transcript and materials associated with this case, points not in dispute are presented in a summary fashion. “Tr.” refers to the trial transcript, which is sequentially numbered in the upper right-hand corner, so no volume numbers or dates are included in the citations. See ECF, Docket Nos. 46 through 60. “PCR Trial Tr.” refers to the transcript of the state post-conviction relief proceedings. OPINION AND ORDER 5 Case 3:07-cv-00413-AC Document 168 Filed 04/18/19 Page 6 of 94 look for Francke. Tr. 6942-46. They were not able to locate Francke, and he did not return their calls to his pager number. Tr. 6945-46. The two co-workers then called security. Tr. 6946. At approximately 12:42 a.m. the next morning, a security guard found Francke’s body on the north portico of the Dome Building. Tr. 5956. The body could not be seen until the security guard actually climbed the steps to the north-portico entrance. Tr. 5956. The blood spatter and other physical evidence showed that Francke had climbed the steps of the north portico, unsuccessfully attempted to open the locked door by breaking a pane of glass in the door, and then died on the porch. Tr. 6516-45. At the time he died, Francke wore dark clothes, including a black overcoat.