Man wrongly imprisoned for rape gets statue in Texas

[aGameOfThrones]

LUBBOCK, Tex. – A statue depicting someone who spent 13 years in prison accused of rape may seem an odd memorial.

But the new bronze statue of Tim Cole -- 13 feet high and peering across 19th Street toward Texas Tech University campus -- is a tribute not just to a man wrongly accused of a crime who stood by his principles but to an imperfect criminal justice system.

On Wednesday, state officials, including Gov. Rick Perry, gathered on the busy corner of 19th Street and University Avenue for the statue's unveiling. Cole was a Texas Tech student in 1985 when he was wrongly accused of raping another student and sentenced to 25 years in prison, where he later died. After lawyers had his case overturned, Perry awarded Cole the state's first ever posthumous pardon.

"This statue will serve as a reminder that justice must be tempered with wisdom," Perry said before a crowd that included members of Cole's family and other exonerees. "And we must all stand vigilante against injustice, wherever it may be found."

Cole's case led to a string of criminal justice reforms, including the Tim Cole Act, which awards exonerated inmates $80,000 for each year they were behind bars, among other annuities – the most generous exoneree compensation package in the USA.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/18/lubbock-tim-cole-exonerate-state/15813943/

[SeanTX]

I'm a little familiar with this case. If I remember right, another inmate came forward taking responsibility for the rape in 1996 , but the state did nothing to investigate that and Tim Cole died of an asthma attack in prison in 1999.

He had asthma so severe he couldn't stand to be around cigarette smoke, yet the woman who was raped said her rapist was smoking heavily (I guess before and after, maybe during). There were lots of other inconsistencies in the woman's description of the man who raped her -- but detectives overlooked that, they had a suspect and they weren't going to let him go.

When the real rapist was finally brought to justice (and Tim was dead) that woman said something in court to the effect of "when you raped me you had the power -- now I have the power." I suppose that's why she falsely accused Tim Cole -- some black dude had raped her and she was going to get some revenge. It's was all about her having the power.

She was there at the statue unveiling, and the family seems to have forgiven her for some reason. Of course, she can't be blamed completely -- she had a lot of police officers who helped her put an innocent man away, to later die in prison. And those detectives are now enjoying a nice retirement.

[tod evans]

I'll not be happy until the prosecuting attorney that prosecutes the "wrong guy" is stripped of all his worldly possessions ans tar-n-feathered on the square..

Fuck a bunch of $80K!