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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Burglary (including aggravated) |
Sentence: |
30 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
1982 |
Year Convicted: |
1982 |
Year Cleared: |
2008 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Texas |
County or Region of Crime: |
Dallas |
City of Crime: |
Dallas |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Steven Charles Phillips was wrongly convicted three times of seperate crimes in different legal proceedings from 1982 to 1984 in Dallas, Texas. In August 1982 of the burglary of the house of a woman who was raped based on the eyewitness identification by the victim. The jury disbelieved his alibi that he was with his wife at the time of the crime. Steven Phillips was sentenced to 30 years in prison. In 1983 Steven Phillips was tried and convicted by a jury of raping the woman during the burglary. Steven Phillips was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Before a third trial for additional charges began, Phillips pled guilty to five additional sex related crimes, and sentenced to an additional 10 years in prison, to be served consecutively with his previous sentences. In 2001 the Dallas County DA had opposed DNA testing of still extant physical evidence. In 2007 a new DA agreed to the DNA tests unavailable at the time of Phillips trial. The tests excluded him as the assailant and he was released on bail in December 2007. In August 2008 the charge was dismissed. Steven Phillips was wrongly imprisoned for 25 years. Another twist in Phillips case is that to avoid a life sentence he falsely pled guilty to nine other crimes committed in 1982 by a person with the same MO as the two crimes he was convicted of committing. As a result of his guilty plea 10 years was added to Phillips' 30 year sentence for a total sentence of 40 years. The actual perpetrator has been identified as Sidney Alvin Goodyear, a serial sex offender with a record of similar crimes in other states who died in prison in 1998 while serving a 45-year sentence for burglary with intent to commit sexual assault. On October 1, 2008 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeal upheld the lower court's dismissal of the charges against Phillips. On December 23, 2009 Phillips was awarded $2,069,166.67 under Texas' wrongful conviction compensation statute, plus a monthly annuity payment for life of $11,601.90 for all of his wrongful convictions." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Erroneous eyewitness identification of Steven Phillips by a total of ten people. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On October 1, 2008 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Steven Charles Phillips's habeas corpus petition based on new DNA evidence and other new exculpatory evidence excluding him as the assailant." |
Defendant Aided By: |
Innocence Project NY |
Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
Yes |
Age When Imprisoned: |
22 |
Age When Released: |
47 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Wrongfully convicted Dallas County inmate is exonerated, By Max B. Baker, Ft Worth Star-Telegram, August 6, 2008" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.star-telegram.com/crime_courts/story/811579.html |
Information Source 2: |
"Former convict, cleared by DNA test, walks out of Dallas court a free man, Dallas Morning News, August 5, 2008" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/080508dnmetexonerate.1906534b.html |
Information Source 3: |
"Appeals court overturns conviction of DNA exonoree, AP story, Houston Chronicle, October 2, 2008" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6035030.html |
Information Source 4: |
"Ex Parte Steven Charles Phillips, No. AP-76,010, AP-76,011, AP-76,012, AP-76,013 & AP-76,014 (Tex. Court of Criminal Appeals 10-1-2008) (Granting habeas corpus petition.)" |
Information Location 4: |
http://law.justia.com/cases/texas/court-of-criminal-appeals/2008/17437.html |
Information Source 5: |
"‘True Conviction’ Tribeca Review: True-Crime Doc Takes Dark Twists, By Steve Pond, LMTonline.com, April 22, 2017" |
Information Location 5: |
http://www.lmtonline.com/entertainment/the-wrap/article/True-Conviction-Tribeca-Review-True-Crime-11091755.php?ipid=hphottopics |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org