A Day of Firsts

On Friday afternoon, in a small, crowded conference room of the Omni Hotel in downtown Fort Worth, the twenty-five year struggle to clear the name of Tim Cole officially ended.  And his true legacy began.

Texas Governor Rick Perry officially pardoned Tim Cole for his 1986 conviction as the "Tech Rapist."  Twenty-five years ago, a man terrorized women on the Texas Tech campus in Lubbock.  Tim Cole was arrested, tried, and convicted.  Unfortunately, he died in prison from complications from asthma and heart problems.  He was 39.

However, during the last several years, DNA evidence proved Cole innocent of the crimes for which he was convicted.  Through tireless work by the Innocence Project and others, Cole was recommended for a pardon.  Governor Perry agreed.  It culminated today.

Under the hot lights of the television cameras, the governor proudly proclaimed Tim Cole pardoned, and then sought to provide the deepest sympathies of the people of the State of Texas to his mother.  Various local legislators spoke about this or that.  Some claiming there would be significant changes to the criminal justice system after this.  Some simply claiming they working on bills to make this an easier process.

Whether new legislation comes to pass or not, perhaps the lasting memory of the Tim Cole saga will be the firsts involved in the case.

Tim Cole, convicted of a crime he did not commit, and who died in prison, is the first person in the history of Texas to receive a posthumous pardon.  He is also the first person posthumously be exonerated by DNA evidence.

There is a saying that it is better ten guilty men go free than for one innocent man be wrongfully convicted.  I wonder if that is on Tim Cole's headstone?

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