Professor Ron Tyler, director of Stanford Law’s Criminal Defense Clinic, spoke with The San Francisco Chronicle’s C.W. Nevius on the case of a San Francisco homeless man seeking to build a new life. 

Steve Goff is a bank robber. Ex-bank robber, he’ll say, but still …

Prison? Oh sure. His estimate is 13 federal facilities. He rattles them off so fast you can’t write them all down: “Lompoc, Atwater, Victorville,” and on and on.

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Ron Tyler was an assistant federal public defender for 22 years. He handled Goff’s cases more than once, most recently in 2008. I called him at Stanford University, where he is director of the Criminal Defense Clinic, and asked if he thought Goff could change his life.

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“What you’re asking is if this is a con,” Tyler says. “And it is not. He’s a great guy, really warm and engaging. It doesn’t surprise me that he would have a group of people who would rally around him. He definitely wants involvement in society.”

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“It is very common for folks in a condition similar to Steve to rob banks to have the money for their fix,” Tyler says. “What I would say is in no instance was I aware of any violence. Steve is a gentleman.”