Metropolis of Fairbanks asks decide to contemplate Fairbanks 4 civil rights case in two levels

The Fairbanks Four shortly after their release from prison in December 2015. Left to right: Marvin Roberts, Eugene Vent, Kevin Pease and George Frese. (Photo by Rachel Saylor / Tanana Chiefs Conference)

At a hearing earlier this week on the civil rights case of Fairbanks Four v. The city of Fairbanks, the city called for a two-step review of the case, starting with a decision on the validity of the 2015 release contract that barred the men from filing the city or the state.

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The local men who came to be known as the Fairbanks Four – George Freese, Marvin Roberts, Kevin Pease and Eugene Vent – were convicted and jailed for the beating death of 15-year-old John Hartman on a city street in 1997. However, evidence presented during a hearing in 2015 suggested that a different group of local young men were indeed responsible for the crime.

The new evidence led to a settlement agreement that is at stake now as the Fairbanks Four are suing the city for civil rights violations.

“I think we need to be specifically informed about the circumstances of the 2015 settlement agreement,” Prosecutor Matt Singer told US District Court judge Sharon Gleason.

Singer argued that the Fairbanks Four had a legal team of experts to help them draft the settlement agreement they signed.

“There is a separate page that lawyers each signed to confirm that they fully explained the agreement and its consequences to their clients and that they believed their clients understood the terms,” ​​he said.

Singer said the validity of the settlement agreement depended on facts that should be viewed separately and against alleged civil rights violations, including forcing false confessions and forging evidence by city police.

However, Fairbanks Four attorney Anna Benvenutti Hoffmann claims that the two issues are intertwined.

“All of the wrongdoing that resulted in our clients being imprisoned is relevant,” she said. “It would be more efficient just to make the entire discovery and then move on to the case.”

Benvenutti Hoffmann said the fact that three of the Fairbanks Four were still in jail – and would have stayed there until further trial proved their innocence – weighed heavily on the decision to sign the settlement agreement.

“You can’t tell that they’re actually innocent and they’re still in jail,” she said.

Judge Gleason said she expected to decide on the request to separate the two questions soon, pointing to the longevity of the case.