TX- Dallas man freed from prison after 25 years

8-6-2008 Texas:

Twenty-six years ago, Steven Charles Phillips was vilified as one of Dallas' worst sexual predators, someone who terrorized dozens of women in a series of bizarre crimes. Officials considered him so dangerous that when he was paroled last year, the state wanted to commit him to a supervisory program similar to house arrest.

At a hearing Tuesday, he was exonerated of all the crimes and freed after spending most of the last 25 years in prison.

Mr. Phillips said he was able to do the time because he woke up every day knowing he was innocent. Now everyone knows.

"What a great day," he said, beaming after the hearing. "Today is the day the Lord has made, and I'm grateful to him."

Innocence Project attorney Barry Scheck said the case was the result of "tunnel vision" on the part of police.

"Any good and reasonable investigation by people who are not obsessed" would have found the real perpetrator, who died in a Texas prison a decade ago. "And a lot of victims would have been spared," he added.

Assistant District Attorney Mike Ware, who oversees the office's conviction integrity unit, said he hoped his office could "reach some sort of reasonable opinion as to what went wrong, and then, you know, begin to talk about what can be done to fix this [procedurally]."

Mr. Phillips was identified by 10 victims, many of whom mentioned the perpetrator's striking blue eyes; Mr. Phillips' eyes are green.

"Mr. Phillips was convicted on the basis of eyewitness identification," Mr. Ware said. If what got victims to an "erroneous state of mind was a law enforcement procedure previously thought to be proved sound, but which, in fact, is not, that's something we need to change."

Mr. Phillips, 50, was among the first Texas inmates to seek DNA testing in 2001.

After decades behind bars, he can live in his own apartment and come and go without worrying about parole officers or an ankle monitor. The GPS monitor he wore as he addressed the court Tuesday kept beeping.

"I think the judge will take care of that," Mr. Phillips joked. A short time later, Mr. Phillips rolled up his pant leg and the ankle monitor was cut off.

Mr. Phillips said he wants to go squirrel hunting and fishing. He also hopes to spend time with his family, including the adult daughter he last saw through prison glass when she was 13, her children, and the grown son he met for the first time Monday.

Zachary Phillips, an Iraq war veteran, quietly watched the proceedings with a heart full of relief. He was born after Mr. Phillips went to prison. His parents divorced in 1991 so the rest of the family could go on with their lives.

Family members, including his mother, told him his father was innocent and "you want to believe," Spc. Phillips said. But you wonder, "25 years – why have they kept him so long?"

Mr. Phillips' ex-wife, Tracy Tucker, sat in a back row of the courtroom with "a feeling of vindication" and tears trickling down her face. She knew her ex-husband was innocent because she had testified he was with her when the first two crimes occurred. But "at some point you begin to question your sanity and credibility," she said.

The exoneration was a particular relief for her son, she said, because as a child Zachary wondered whether something was wrong with him because his father was labeled a sex offender.

Supporters also included Mr. Phillips' mother, whose 25 years of letters he still has, a paroled prison friend, and Dr. Don Umphrey, a retired Southern Methodist University professor who met Mr. Phillips through a prison ministry.

A few other recent exonerees came to slap Mr. Phillips on the back.

Since 2001, 18 men, including Mr. Phillips, have been cleared by DNA in Dallas County.

The high exoneration rate is not necessarily bad, Mr. Scheck said.

He applauded Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins for approving a DNA test for Mr. Phillips after his predecessor had denied it. He praised the county's policy of preserving evidence.

"There would be far more exonerations in cities, in other places – I assure you in New York we'd probably have 200-300 exonerations – if just the evidence were preserved," he said. "If you want to find justice, come to Dallas."

Mr. Phillips had been found guilty of sexual assault and burglary by two different juries in the early '80s, then he pleaded guilty to nine more charges to avoid a life sentence.

He was paroled in the mid-1990s, but returned to prison after being arrested for criminal trespass. Mr. Phillips has admitted to being a peeping Tom and struggling with sexual addiction.

The real perpetrator of the crimes has been identified as Sidney Alvin Goodyear, who was serving 45 years for another sex offense when he died. Mr. Goodyear's DNA was identified in the first two crimes. He also was convicted of offenses similar to those in Dallas before and after Mr. Phillips was arrested.

The crime sprees were distinctive – in addition to women who were raped after their homes were broken into, the perpetrator held groups of women at area health spas at gunpoint, forcing them to disrobe and commit sexual acts.

Similar crimes occurred in Kansas City, where Mr. Goodyear was convicted.

In fact, Mr. Goodyear was identified by a witness in Dallas, but his arrest warrant "was dropped for unknown reasons," the district attorney's office said.

That information was never disclosed to defense attorneys. "If things are as they appear they were, then absolutely it should have been turned over," Mr. Ware said.

Mr. Ware said victims in the cases had been contacted before Tuesday's hearing. A victim who was robbed told The Dallas Morning News that she was "happy that the right person is out. ... I wish him the best."

Mr. Phillips said he holds no animosity toward the victims who erroneously identified him.

"They know the truth now," he said. "I never thought that they didn't believe that what they said was true." ..News Source.. by DIANE JENNINGS / The Dallas Morning News