State hospital worker who punched patient gets break from state judge

In a remarkable turn of events, a Marion County Circuit Court judge has rejected a plea deal between prosecutors and a mental health worker who punched a patient at the Oregon State Hospital in Salem, instead dismissing the criminal charges entirely.

The action frees Eric M. Banks of prosecution he has faced since November 2022 and drops a charge he agreed in February to accept.

Banks, employed as a temporary mental health worker, was charged…