New Bid to Free Chula Vista Man Jailed for Life

The defense lawyers for a Chula Vista man sentenced to life for a $27 robbery say they have new evidence that shows their client was in California at the time of the 1989 crime.

Rickey Dale Thomas has been held in Sulphur Springs, Tex., since his October, 1991, trial, when he was convicted in the Oct. 20, 1989, robbery of an elderly woman.

Thomas this week hired Clifton L. (Scrappy) Holmes, a private Longview, Tex., attorney, to represent him in his appeal of the conviction. Holmes was in court all day Tuesday and could not be reached for comment on the case’s progress.

Thomas has maintained that he wasn’t in Sulphur Springs the day of the robbery. His case has been featured on the “Donahue” show.

Ronald Williamson, the attorney who represented Thomas at last year’s trial, says he has more evidence that proves his client’s arrest and conviction are a case of mistaken identity.

Thomas, who is originally from Hot Springs, Ark., must serve 15 years of the life sentence before he is considered for parole.

Because a court could not grant funds to cover travel for several witnesses from San Diego, Williamson says only one of about six people who could vouch for his client’s whereabouts testified.

But he says additional evidence secured since the trial includes the testimony of a dry cleaner who says Thomas came to his store the day of the robbery, a store cashier who says Thomas cashed a check the same day and testimony from more witnesses.

Thomas was identified, by the Texas Department of Public Safety officer who pulled a car over the night of the robbery, from an array of criminal mug shots put together by the FBI, Williamson said. Thomas has previous convictions for theft and burglary in Arkansas.

Records at the 28-year-old’s former employer, Fuddruckers restaurant in Chula Vista, show Thomas worked more than six hours Oct. 20, 1989. He also had a paycheck from the restaurant that was cashed the same day, according to the owner of a Chula Vista market.

The prosecution’s case rests on the testimony of the DPS officer who said Thomas was among three men in a car he stopped outside Sulphur Springs after the robbery.

But Williamson contends the officer was never shown a driver’s license from the man who told the officer he was Richard Thomas.

Meanwhile, in San Diego, a legal defense fund is being set up for Thomas.

“Basically, what we’re getting ready to do is create a national scandal,” said Esther Evans, who runs a legal services business in San Diego.

Evans characterized the prosecution of Thomas, who is black, as “total racism,” and said she will raise that issue in the future.