QuickTake:

A hearing is set for July 10 to determine if Robert Wallace Lyons, 61, can be released from the Lane County Jail. Lyons’ conviction was vacated after a state law discredited evidence used to convict him.

A man whose murder conviction was tossed out after he spent 35 years in prison should be released from jail pending the next steps in his case, the man’s attorney said in a court filing.

Robert Wallace Lyons, 61, has been held in the Lane County Jail since June 24 as the Lane County District Attorney’s Office decides whether to pursue a retrial.

Jurors found Lyons guilty of aggravated murder in the 1989 death of 24-year-old Lori Stabenow. But during the 1990 trial, they heard testimony about bite-mark analysis.

The testimony tied Lyons to bite marks found on Stabenow’s body. A state law that took effect in April explicitly names such bite-mark analyses as being a discredited forensic science, and Lyons’ conviction was tossed out June 16 under the new law.

Lyons is the first person in Oregon to have his conviction vacated under the new law, according to the Portland-based Forensic Justice Project.

A detention hearing is scheduled for July 10 to consider Lyons’ possible release pending further developments in the case. He’s represented in Lane County Circuit Court by attorney Caitlin Plummer.

“Having spent more than half of his life in prison for a conviction the State itself recognizes was secured through evidence no court would admit today, Mr. Lyons respectfully seeks the opportunity for release,” Plummer wrote in a June 29 memorandum, which also states that
“there is no admissible, persuasive evidence remaining to support Mr. Lyons’ guilt.”

The three-page document says that while in prison Lyons did not engage in any violent conduct.

“There is no basis in his prison record to believe he has any capacity for or predisposition to violence. The only basis for any such predisposition would be his alleged participation in the charged crime — a crime he is presumed innocent of, and for which no convincing evidence of guilt remains,” the memorandum states.

If released, Lyons would have “housing in a stable environment” and “numerous community members available to help with practical support,” the court filing states.

A separate filing refers to a “re-entry” plan for Lyons should he be released and support from the nonprofit Oregon Justice Network.