For the first time in state history, an Oregon judge has granted a certificate of innocence to a man who was falsely imprisoned.

Nicholas McGuffin was convicted in 2011 for the manslaughter of 15-year-old Leah Freeman — a decision that was overturned years later as new information about the case came to light. McGuffin spent nearly a decade behind bars.

In a judgement issued Friday, Marion County Circuit Court Judge Sean Armstrong granted McGuffin the certificate of innocence, stating that he is “innocent of all crimes for which [he] was wrongfully convicted.” In a separate order, the judge also sealed McGuffin’s arrest and conviction records from the case.

“The court’s ruling today marks the end of Nick’s twenty-five year long fight to prove his innocence,” said Janis Puracal, an attorney with the Forensic Justice Project who represented McGuffin in court. “Most people don’t realize the stigma that follows someone around after they’ve been accused, even if they were exonerated. We are thrilled for Nick and his family.”

Leah Freeman went missing on June 28, 2000. Her body was found in a wooded area outside Coquille, a small town in Coos County. There were no witnesses to her disappearance or death, but investigators quickly identified McGuffin — who was her boyfriend at the time — as the primary suspect. Coos County law enforcement could not secure an indictment at the time and the case went cold.

The investigation reopened nearly a decade later after the city of Coquille hired a new police chief, Mark Dannels, who promised to solve Freeman’s case. While that investigation was underway, Dannels opened up the behind-the-scenes process to the ABC News show 20/20, which broadcast a story highlighting law enforcement’s version of events ahead of McGuffin’s criminal trial.

In 2011, a jury found McGuffin guilty of first degree manslaughter, but acquitted him of murder and sentenced him to a decade in prison with three years of post-prison supervision.

Courts overturned his conviction in November 2019 after McGuffin’s defense attorneys found that law enforcement had not disclosed key information in the case, namely unidentified male DNA evidence that had not been reported by the Oregon State Police crime lab.

McGuffin left prison that year, and has since filed a federal lawsuit against the Oregon State Police, the city of Coquille, the Coos County Sheriff’s Department and others.

“Innocence has always been worth fighting for. It took a long time, but, twenty-five years after being falsely accused, Nick McGuffin just became the first person in Oregon to obtain a judgment certifying his innocence,” attorney Andrew Lauersdorf, who also represented McGuffin, said in a statement.

The Oregon Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The decision on McGuffin’s case comes after Oregon lawmakers failed to pass a bill that would have pushed the Oregon Department of Justice to provide certificates of innocence to people who were wrongfully convicted on a much faster basis.

Senate Bill 1007, which would have also made it easier to compensate people in these cases, floundered during the last session despite having bipartisan support due to budget concerns. As of July, Oregon had 47 open claims for compensation due to alleged wrongful convictions.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/08/01/oregon-certificate-of-innocence-nicholas-mcguffin-wrongful-conviction-crime/