A man who served 11 years of a life sentence for three murders -- before his convictions were thrown out -- can go forward with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the state, the Oregon Court of Appeals said Wednesday.
A lower court judge had previously ruled that Philip Scott Cannon’s lawsuit was invalid because he had just missed the required 180-day window for “commencement of an action” against a government agency. But a three-judge panel of the appeals court ruled Wednesday that Cannon filed his lawsuit within 180 days, and he notified the state agencies that he’d done so before another 60 days had passed. That was enough to meet the deadline under Oregon law, the appeals judges said
In 2009, Cannon had won the chance at a new trial in the 1998 killings of three people on a farm west of Salem when the Oregon Department of Justice conceded that it lost the evidence, including bullets and crime-scene photos.
On Sept. 2, 2009, a judge set aside Cannon's convictions. And on Dec. 18, 2009, prosecutors said they wouldn't retry Cannon. He was released from prison that same day.
He filed a lawsuit for wrongful conviction in state court against various governmental entities -- including the Justice Department and Oregon State Police -- on Feb. 26, 2010. That was 177 days after the judge threw out his convictions.
But Cannon didn’t serve summons on the defendants until 183 and 184 days after the judge took action. Marion County Circuit Judge Pamela Abernethy agreed with the defendants that Cannon’s case couldn’t go forward because he missed the 180-day window.
A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals, however, said Wednesday that Cannon “commenced"
The ruling could have an effect on a wide swath of litigation that plaintiffs file against public bodies right before the 180-day deadline arrives, said Cannon’s Salem attorney, Kevin Lafky.
Lafky said he was pleased with Wednesday’s ruling.
“It’s a tragic situation: He was wrongfully convicted, and yet no one wants to take responsibility for that,” Lafky said.
Since Cannon’s release, he has worked in the skilled trades, doing carpentry work and welding. Cannon also has earned a college degree, Lafky said.
Prosecutors still could revive the murder case by pursuing charges against Cannon, but they've given no indication that they plan to, Lafky said. Lafky said he would prefer that the state re-open the case in an effort to find the person who committed the murders.
"Because it wasn't Mr. Cannon who did it," Lafky said.
The state Justice Department weathered fierce public criticism in 2012 after an Oregon State Police investigation found that the evidence justice-department attorneys thought had been destroyed had really just been lost. It had been in a Justice Department hallway all along.
Cannon has lawsuits pending in state and
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-- Aimee Green