Man who spent 25 years behind bars for crime he didn't commit faces losing $4 million compensation t
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A man who spent 25 years in prison for a crime he did not commit faces losing his $4m compensation to his ex-wife.
Steven Phillips faces a court battle to keep hold of the money he was awarded for his wrongful conviction.
He was released from a life sentence for rape in 2008 after DNA proved he could not have been the attacker.
But now his ex-wife Traci Tucker, who divorced him three years into his life sentence, has taken him to court in a bid to get a share of the $4m compensation.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2074283/Steven-Phillips-Innocent-man-spent-25-years-jail-lose-4m-compensation-ex-wife.html#ixzz1gcHa0HWh
As long as she serves 12.5 years in prison, she can share, in my opinion.
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)If she wants to sue someone she should sue the same people that gave her ex-husband the money
Tuesday Afternoon
(56,912 posts)that a compensation = earnings.
fail.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)jtrockville
(4,266 posts)How could his spouse possibly have any claim to it?
closeupready
(29,503 posts)nt
former9thward
(31,936 posts)of the unjust term. That is about 1/4 of the time he did. She is probably trying to get about 1/8 of the total. Given our family laws she likely will get it.
jtrockville
(4,266 posts)If he'd been awarded the $$$ during the time he was married to her, I'd say she has a valid claim. But that's not the case.
Gringostan
(127 posts)25 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit; and now she wants to benifit from this?
I'm with you on this one - she needs to serve some time if she wants the money.
Little Star
(17,055 posts)The system ruined her life too. She is sueing the wrong party.
Ed Suspicious
(8,879 posts)Gormy Cuss
(30,884 posts)but then I'm not a lawyer and I don't play one on DU.
Lance_Boyle
(5,559 posts)mike_c
(36,269 posts)eom
udbcrzy2
(891 posts)Maybe it's because she never received any child support after she divorced and raised the son without the father contributing. I am not sure, but that seems like the only way she REALLY could get any compensation and maybe money he spent on his defense (would have been her money too at that time).
Response to udbcrzy2 (Reply #11)
Bunny This message was self-deleted by its author.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,266 posts)He was married to Traci Tucker for about a decade, most of it while he was locked up. The two had a child together, and she's since been compensated for the unpaid child support through the compensation law. But, until the mistrial Tuesday, she was suing him for a cut of the millions he was paid, her argument being that the money is, in part, for lost wages and subject to a divorce settlement. Not to mention the fact that she raised his kid alone.
McKenzie says there is no language in the Tim Cole Act classifying any of the money as recompense for lost wages. Phillips adds that he didn't see much of his wife after the first three years in prison. A spokesperson for Tucker's attorney said she continued to visit him throughout his prison term, even depositing money into his commissary account regularly. In a deposition, Tucker said it was Phillips who pushed her away.
This is only the latest in a series of legal woes afflicting the exoneree who can't seem to stay out of court (and jail). He just settled with his former attorney -- who fought to see compensation raised for all Texas exonerees -- over a million in fees he refused to pay. He got busted with a trifling amount of cocaine hidden in a to-go container in Carrollton. And, of course, there's the whole spending-half-of-his-life-in-prison-for-something-he-didn't-do thing.
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2011/12/mistrial_by_google_in_the_case.php
Response to muriel_volestrangler (Reply #15)
Bunny This message was self-deleted by its author.
melm00se
(4,984 posts)her claim: a certain percentage of the $4MM was awarded to him for the 3 years she was still married to him. This is like going after a percentage of a spouse's pension.
I should say, however, that I don't agree with her claim but that's why we have courts
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)who lost his father to a wrongful conviction
Response to azurnoir (Reply #14)
Bunny This message was self-deleted by its author.
bigdarryl
(13,190 posts)Some lawyer probably talked her into this when they saw this guy was going to get paid.This girl doesn't realize if she won anything the lawyer will get most of the money. And on top of that if it drags out in court he will go broke trying to defend himself.So the bottom line is they will both get screwed by the fact that lawyers got involved in a bullshit lawsuit to line there pockets.This is why lawyers have a bad name.They all need to leave this poor guy alone and let him live the rest of his freedom with is 4 million which to me isn't enough to loose your freedom over 25 years they should have given him 25 million
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)barbtries
(28,769 posts)hope she loses.
Javaman
(62,500 posts)tawadi
(2,110 posts)Ilsa
(61,690 posts)MurrayDelph
(5,292 posts)at most, she should only be qualified for 240K.
Here's my math:
($4,000,000 compensation) / (25 years of imprisonment ) * (3 years they were still married) / 2
struggle4progress
(118,228 posts)This story is now several days old:
Exoneree's Ex-Wife Takes Him to Court For a Piece of the Millions He Got From the State
By Brantley Hargrove Mon., Dec. 12 2011 at 5:10 PM
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2011/12/exonerees_ex-wife_takes_him_to.php
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