Jan 07 2010
Governor Perry Can Grant Posthumous Pardons
Great news!
The Texas Attorney General’s Office today issued an opinion stating that the Governor can grant posthumous pardons. The opinion was requested on behalf of Timothy Cole, a man who died in prison in 1999 while serving a sentence for rape and was exonerated by the Innocence Project of Texas in February 2009. Click here to read the AG’s opinion. Cole’s family has sought a pardon from the Governor ever since his exoneration last year. However, Governor Rick Perry was uncertain if he could issue a pardon to a person who was deceased. In July, Senator Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, requested an opinion from the Attorney General’s Office to settle the matter.
“This is the final chapter in a case that everyone told us couldn’t be done,” said Jeff Blackburn, founder and chief counsel of the Innocence Project of Texas. “Not only did we find a way to exonerate someone posthumously, but now they can be pardoned too. I’ve never been prouder to be a part of the Innocence Project of Texas.”
Cole was a student at Texas Tech University when he was convicted of rape in 1985 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He died of a massive asthma attack in 1999. The Innocence Project of Texas began investing Cole’s case after the actual perpetrator wrote to them confessing to the crime. A DNA test proved Cole was not the rapist but a Lubbock court denied the family’s request for a hearing. The Innocence Project of Texas took the case to district judge Charlie Baird’s court in Austin last February where Cole was officially exonerated.
“This is the final hurdle in a marathon race toward the justice finish line for Tim,” said Cory Session, brother of Tim Cole. “But just because we’re getting Tim’s pardon, by no means are we finished because there are still many changes that need to be made to the criminal justice system to prevent future wrongful convictions like Tim’s.”
The Innocence Project of Texas will submit a formal request for a pardon to the Governor’s Office. An aide to the Governor has said he will sign the pardon once it reaches his desk.