Posted on 08/02/2002 4:25:28 PM PDT by Rightly Biased
Lyndel Lucas is angry. He's exasperated. He's indignant. And he believes he has been wrongfully denounced by a system that is supposed to protect all Americans.
Lucas, owner of Norma's Nursery & Garden Center in Lampasas, said his ordeal with the Texas justice system started in 1986. Three years later, he began an arduous journey to clear his name, only to see obstacles block his path for the next 13 years.
Jerry Winston Giles was a drifter who came into town on a bicycle.
"He was hungry; he was down on his luck. He was begging for a job," said Lucas. "Jerry promised to work hard, so I hired him and three months later, he was gone." With him, Giles took Lucas' identity. He snatched documents which included a birth certificate, high school diploma, Social Security number and an old driver's license that belonged to Lucas.
And Giles has been creating havoc with Lucas' personal effects ever since, aided by a system which refuses to own up to its inadequacies, said Lucas.
Problems surfaced in 1989 when the local business owner was stopped by a Department of Public Safety trooper outside of Lampasas.
"He (the trooper) had his gun drawn and ordered me out of my truck," said Lucas. "He threw me against his vehicle and handcuffed me, put me in his squad car and hauled me in. He said he had a blue warrant for my arrest. It was Jerry Giles they wanted, only they didn't know it."
Giles, who had been in jail in San Antonio for felony sexual assault until 1989, had violated his parole and disappeared, Lucas said.
It turned out that Giles used Lyndel Lucas' name while the felon was an inmate in the Texas Department of Corrections -- not once, but twice, the nursery owner said.
"He was 6'1" and weighed more than 200 pounds; I am 5'6" and about 160 pounds. And there is a more than 20-year difference in our ages. I don't know why that wasn't checked out," Lucas said. "They didn't even question him when he said his name was Lyndel Lucas."
After being pulled over for a fourth time and hauled to jail in Leander, Lucas said he headed to DPS headquarters in Austin.
"I told them to arrest me. I defied them. `I want you to arrest me, charge me with something and give me my day in court,'" he challenged officials.
Lucas said DPS officials promised to expunge his record. "And they did -- all except the Texas Department of Corrections. To this day, they refuse to admit they made a mistake."
In 2000, Lucas' attempt to purchase a shotgun for bird hunting fell short when a background check by the Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms agency revealed Lucas was a convicted felon who had violated federal statutes. He was told he was ineligible to buy a firearm because of his previous record.
Lucas then turned for help to State Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp in an attempt to clear his name. In a television interview, Lucas said he sought state officials to admit they made a mistake when allowing Giles to serve time using Lucas' name. They refused, he said.
"At that time, Giles was in jail again -- under my name. He spent two years in the Texas Department of Corrections for two felony charges, using my name both times."
Lucas said TDC was duped the first time into booking Giles under Lucas' name. "But a second time? Don't you think that's just ridiculous?"
Giles is currently serving time in a Colorado jail -- under his own name -- for assaulting two young girls, said Lucas. He is supposed to be released this month. "When Giles was arrested in San Antonio, they didn't ask for proof of his identity. They just asked his name. And when he gave them mine, they didn't even question it. They just took him at his word."
Lucas said the dilemma stems from Texas officials who are content to fault Giles for what has happened to Lucas' identity.
"Giles did not do this to me; they did. He (Giles) had no power to use my name until they gave it to him. All I want is for them to fix it. Their answer is that I have no respect for the authority of their offices. "They want all the focus to fall on the perpetrator (Giles), not on the system that messed things up." Lucas said Giles was powerless to use Lucas' name without the authority of state officials. "And they don't want to be held accountable. This can't be stopped until they take responsibility for what they have done," he said, speaking of DPS and TDC officials.
What is Lucas' recourse? "I have none," he said. No charges have been filed against Giles for the identity theft.
"Nobody wants to fool with it. It is barely above a misdemeanor and not worth anyone wasting their time. They tell me it's just a headache," the local business owner said.
After a recent interview in People magazine, Lucas has become somewhat of a celebrity -- something he would rather not be.
His next stop is a nationally syndicated political/current events television talk show starring Rob Nelson, that films in Los Angeles. His segment is expected to be taped next week and should air about two weeks later on the Fox network.
"I will be their lead story, to hopefully bring a greater awareness to the public of what can happen to the average law-abiding American citizen."
Lucas also was offered a spot on the Montel Williams show, but turned it down in favor of the Nelson program. "It seemed a lot less Jerry Springer-like than Montel did."
A possibility also exists that Lucas could appear on the Oprah Winfrey show. Ms. Winfrey is considering a show on identity theft, of which she also has been a victim. And Lucas spoke to John Walsh, host of "America's Most Wanted," concerning a segment on identity theft that could air in the fall.
"All these television shows and being in the public eye is not what I wanted. Who would want to go through all this?" he questioned.
Lucas said he wants authorities to take greater responsibility for what happened to him. "No one can assume someone else's identity without the `consent' of authorities. We need a better system to protect the people," he said.
"I can listen to the police scanner, and if someone gets stopped, within 10 minutes I can get their address, driver's license number, age and any other information I want.
"And all someone has to do is look at a business owner's tax identification number they are required to hang in their shop. The tax identification number is nothing more than a Social Security number with a few numbers added to the beginning and ending. That's how easy it is to get someone else's information."
Lucas also noted that lists of ways to stifle identity theft aren't worth the paper they're printed on. "They're totally worthless. You, personally, are at risk. You cannot protect yourself. It has to start with the authorities.
"The credit card companies have to come up with better ways to protect customers. Things are very high-tech now. Surely there is some way to protect the identities of these people," he continued.
How is he dealing with his ongoing dilemma? "I just live with it," Lucas said. "I was told in a recent letter I got from the DPS that it's too expensive and time-consuming for them to clear my record. They tell me I should just give it up.
"But I'm not going to quit until the day I die. I won't stop until I see my name cleared. I will continue to be a thorn in their sides. Don't you think it's ridiculous to have to go this far just to have my name cleared?" Lucas also said he has no recourse against the state. Agencies pass laws to protect themselves, and they are unaccountable for their actions, he said.
"They can make mistakes and not have to make them right. Where is the justice in that?
"If I am not at liberty to use my constitutional rights as an American citizen who has never committed a crime, then you're not free either. When one person has been denied his constitutional rights, everyone has been denied."
Lucas said a court fight to clear his name could cost upward of $15,000, with no assurance of satisfaction. "Who has that kind of money, and with no guarantees that it will even do any good?" Said Lucas: "I have been fighting this for the past 13 years, and it all comes down to accountability, or lack of. If officials would just accept accountability, would I still be fighting this 13 years later?"
The garden center owner said he isn't worried about Giles' impending prison release. "He should be worried about seeing me. He's not going to come back here." Lucas extended thanks to Lampasas County Sheriff Gordon Morris and his staff for their willingness to help him. "They have gone way above the call of duty, and I am very grateful to them," he said. "If the sheriff could wipe all this out with a punch of a button, he would. But his hands are tied, too. He doesn't have the authority. It has to come from the top: the TDC and DPS. But they don't care."
Lucas added: "They have really messed up my life. The first time they were duped into using my name when Giles was arrested. But the second time, they knew they were making a mistake. I feel assaulted. Wouldn't you?" Lucas has tangled with a number of agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service.
"I keep telling them to come and get me. Give me a trial, and either convict me or release me. Give me a chance to clear my name. I have been denied my due process. Giles got his, though. Everything they did to me was a travesty of justice.
"If they can do this to me, they can do this to you. You're just a statistic waiting to happen. So I'm going to fight this. They're going to fix this. I am going to pursue this until I draw my last breath. My children's children are not going to look back and see it written that their grandfather was a convicted child molester." Lucas said his rights as a U.S. citizen have been violated, and he has been put at risk from retaliation by family members of molestation victims.
"What is to stop them from finding me and thinking it was me who hurt their daughters or their sisters? I am constantly at risk. And they (state agencies) should be held accountable, but they can't even admit they made a mistake," he said.
"They are mad because they say I have no respect for the authority of their office.
"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and justice for all is supposed to be my right. That's the America I thought I was in, but that one doesn't even exist."
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