A Portland, Oregon, Black man is finally free from prison after his sentence was wrongfully enhanced based on a crime he did not commit.
Danyale Gill was happy when he was released from prison, the Oregon Innocence Project (OIP) earlier this month. “I’m just glad to be free,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming. I’m relieved it’s finally here, and now I want to enjoy it.”
Gill was only an 18-year-old high school student when he was incarcerated after police blamed him for being the gunman in a March 1994 non-fatal shooting, according to an OIP press release. The local police chief was in Northeast Portland “by chance” when the incident occurred. He began following the suspected shooter and lost track of him.
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Just a block from where he spotted the suspect, the chief saw Gill and identified him “by his build and clothing rather than his face,” the organization said. When investigators questioned him, Gill said he was in the area because he was with his uncle — who they failed to reach out to — at a nearby residence. The teen requested that they conduct a gun residue test, but they refused.
Per the organization’s statement, he was charged with unlawful use of a firearm, attempted murder, and assault. During his trial, the prosecutor allegedly described him and other men as “young thugs shooting bullets at one another.” Although the shooting victim did not attend the trial, Gill was still convicted by the majority-white jury.
During his sentencing, the victim and other witnesses confirmed that Gill did not commit the crime, according to the OIP. However, the judge sentenced him to three years behind bars. The teen, who had been set to graduate, maintained his innocence throughout the years of his prison term. He was released in 1997.
After leaving prison, Gill lived out of his car and had run-ins with the police. During one incident, he “drove off” at a stop, and officers trailed him, which prompted him to leave his car behind. While the cops ran after him, he shot in their direction; however, no one was injured. This incident led him to be convicted for a second time in 1998.
“Due to his first conviction, Danyale Gill’s sentence for his second case was significantly longer than it would otherwise have been. Oregon law allows courts to depart from sentencing guidelines and sentence defendants who have been found to be “dangerous offenders” to up to a 30-year indeterminate sentence,” the organization wrote.
“Mr. Gill received two dangerous offender sentencing enhancements, one for 30 years and one for 10,” OIP continued. “Without these increases, which relied on his prior conviction as evidence of his dangerousness, he would likely have been released around a decade ago. With these enhancements, Danyale Gill was sentenced in 1998 to a term of incarceration that was set to continue until 2042.”
Years later, while behind bars, Gill gathered evidence, including a letter from the actual shooter and witness, the OIP said. He attempted to file a motion for a new trial but was denied. In 2018, the OIP started to assist him, interviewing those connected to his case, including his uncle and the victim. A DNA expert also told the organization the evidence used against Gill in the 1994 trial was presented in a “very misleading manner” and was not “reliable as the State made it appear.”
The OIP got Gill’s first conviction dismissed and reduced the 1998 to time served. While in prison, he saved money to prepare for his new chapter, and now he plans to focus on his education and starting a business on the outside.
