Man sues KC police, claims he was framed

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A man is suing Kansas City police, seeking more than $50 million on allegations that officers framed him for a burglary that eventually resulted in his imprisonment.

Oren Gamble, 46, was released from prison in 2001 when a Jackson County judge overturned the conviction after Gamble claimed police arrested him for robbing a convenience store, knowing that another man had committed the crime.

In the recent lawsuit against four former officers and the Kansas City Board of Police, Gamble and his wife claim the police violated his civil rights and falsely imprisoned him. The lawsuit, filed in Jackson County, seeks unspecified actual damages and $50 million in punitive damages.

"This is a case of intentional police misconduct," said Joe Bednar, Gamble's attorney. "That's what makes it so outrageous."

Attorneys for the police argue that the lawsuit -- which alleges wrongdoing in the 1980s -- was filed too late according to the statute of limitations. The attorneys also said officers had cause to arrest Gamble and that Gamble's problems were a result of his own actions.

One of the four former officers declined to comment, one did not remember the case and the other two could not be reached.

A hearing in the case is scheduled for May 15.

Court records filed with the lawsuit describing the situation surrounding Gamble's burglary conviction.

He had become a police informant in 1984, providing the names of thieves but refusing to testify in court, the records say.

Police conspired with a Kansas City man to set up Gamble, the records claim, in order to get him to testify. On Nov. 18, 1985, Gamble and the other man were in a car outside of a closed convenience store. The other man broke into the store, but police arrested Gamble instead, the records claim.

A detective told Gamble the next morning that the burglary charge would be dropped if he agreed to testify in other cases, the records claim. After Gamble refused, he was charged with the burglary.

In his plea, Gamble denied guilt but acknowledged that that the state had enough evidence to convict him. He got a suspended 15-year sentence, with three years of probation.

When Gamble pleaded guilty in 1987 to selling a stolen television set, his probation was revoked and he went to prison. Gamble spent more than eight of the next 14 years in prison and the remainder on parole.

While on parole, Gamble secretly recorded the other man acknowledging his part in the convenience store break-in, court records state. Gamble then used the video tapes to convince attorney Mark Jones to take his case.

On June 26, 2001, Circuit Judge Kelly Moorhouse overturned the convictions for the convenience store burglary and the television set sale and set Gamble free.