DNA tests show that a transient serial rapist wanted for sex crimes in several states is the perpetrator in a case in which DNA said another man was wrongfully convicted of sexual assault, reports the Dallas Morning News. Rapist Sidney Goodyear died 10 years ago in a Texas prison, even as Steven Charles Phillips sat behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit, said Mike Ware of the Dallas District Attorney’s office. Phillips, 49, is one of 15 men exonerated by DNA testing in Dallas County since 2001 – more than any other county in the nation.
Phillips had also pleaded guilty to eight related cases that authorities believe were committed by Goodyear. Phillips’ attorneys say he pleaded guilty to the other crimes because he feared an even longer prison term after losing two jury trials. Phillips, who was paroled in December in the last of those cases, had no criminal record from before the string of sex crimes, although he admitted to police that he had been a Peeping Tom. Victims spoke of the perpetrator’s striking blue eyes. Goodyear’s eyes were blue. Phillips has green eyes.
Link: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/013008dnmetexonerate.35f8af6.html