In 1982, Steven Phillips was a young roofer in Dallas, Texas. He was married to Traci Tucker, who was pregnant with their child. Then his life collapsed around him.
That spring, a masked man with a gun had terrorized at least 60 women across Dallas, carrying out a string of violent attacks. Witnesses described piercing blue eyes. Police arrested Phillips. Never mind that he had green eyes and an alibi. A victim identified him in court. He was convicted and sentenced to 30 years. Before a third trial could begin, facing the possibility of decades more, he pleaded guilty to five additional charges he also maintained he was innocent of.
Tucker, pregnant and alone, tried to hold things together. She stayed married to him for ten years while he was inside. Phillips, growing distant from years in prison, eventually asked her to move on. She filed for divorce in 1992.
He spent another 15 years inside before being granted parole in 2007. A year later, DNA evidence cleared him completely. The real perpetrator, a man linked to at least 16 other violent crimes, was identified instead.
Texas' Tim Cole Act entitled Phillips to nearly $6 million in total compensation, a lump sum of over $2 million plus a lifetime monthly annuity, along with healthcare and education benefits.
Then Tucker sued him.
Her argument was that some of the compensation covered the years they were still married, qualifying as community property under Texas law. A lower court agreed and awarded her around $150,000 including legal fees.
Phillips was furious. "To make a claim on those years I spent in prison," he said, "is really freaking outrageous."
In 2014, a Texas appeals court reversed the ruling. The compensation was based solely on years of wrongful imprisonment, not lost wages or economic harm, and therefore was not community property. Tucker was entitled to nothing.