"COLE WAS EXONERATED BY A TRAVIS COUNTY JUDGE EARLY LAST YEAR AFTER DNA TESTING CLEARED HIM OF THE 1985 SEXUAL ASSAULT OF A TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY STUDENT. GOV. RICK PERRY RECENTLY SAID HE WILL PARDON COLE.
JIM BETHKE, WHO HEADS THE TEXAS TASK FORCE ON INDIGENT DEFENSE AND SITS ON THE COLE PANEL, SAID THE VISIT REINFORCED THE PANEL’S SENSE OF PURPOSE.
"THIS IS THE MAN IT IS NAMED AFTER," HE SAID. "WE’RE WORKING SO THIS DOESN’T HAPPEN AGAIN."
THE PANEL’S GOAL IS TO DEVELOP LEGISLATIVE REMEDIES TO FALSE IDENTIFICATION BY EYEWITNESSES, FRAUDULENT TESTIMONY FROM SNITCHES AND OTHER CRIMINAL JUSTICE FLAWS THAT COULD LAND THE WRONG PERSON BEHIND BARS."
ALEX BRANCH: THE STAR-TELEGRAM;
PHOTO; TIMOTHY COLE;
WIKIPEDIA NOTES THAT THE FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM IS A MAJOR U.S. DAILY NEWSPAPER SERVING FORT WORTH AND THE WESTERN HALF OF THE NORTH TEXAS AREA KNOWN AS METROPLEX.
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: As the Texas Tribune reported earlier this month, Texas Governor Rock Perry has done an about turn and now says he has the legal authority to grant posthumous pardons. As the Texas Moratorium Network recently noted, "Rick Perry plans to issue a posthumous pardon to Timothy Cole, who died in prison before he could prove his innocence. Now, that Perry has acknowledged and plans to use the power to grant posthumous pardons, the door is open for him or future governors to issue pardons to innocent people already executed, such as Todd Willingham, Carlos De Luna or others, if they are convinced of their innocence." In short, Perry has opened an important door which cannot return lives wrongly taken by the State - but at least can allow them to be remembered as the innocent people they were and ensure that the State will take accountability for its actions. However, as the Star-Telegram story a posthumous pardon is just a start; Concrete steps have to be taken to avoid other innocent persons suffering the same fate. Abolition of the death penalty would be a good place to start.
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"FORT WORTH — Members of a panel reviewing flaws in the Texas legal system visited Tarrant County on Thursday to study the district attorney’s much-praised policy of making its case files open to defense attorneys," the January 28, 2010 Star-Telegram story begins, under the heading "Members of Tim Cole panel stop by his grave site."
"Before they left, several members of the Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions paid their respects to the man in whose name they pursue change," the story continues.
"Under a heavy, cold rain, they joined Cole’s mother, Ruby Session, and his brother, Cory Session, at Cole’s headstone at Mount Olivet Cemetery in north Fort Worth.
Cole, of Fort Worth, died in prison in 1999 while serving a 25-year sentence for a crime in Lubbock that he did not commit.
"People often say that the system always worked," Cory Session told the group as he stood over his brother’s grave. "This is one case where it never worked."
Cole was exonerated by a Travis County judge early last year after DNA testing cleared him of the 1985 sexual assault of a Texas Tech University student. Gov. Rick Perry recently said he will pardon Cole.
Jim Bethke, who heads the Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense and sits on the Cole panel, said the visit reinforced the panel’s sense of purpose.
"This is the man it is named after," he said. "We’re working so this doesn’t happen again."
The panel’s goal is to develop legislative remedies to false identification by eyewitnesses, fraudulent testimony from snitches and other criminal justice flaws that could land the wrong person behind bars.
Panel members converged on Tarrant County mainly to learn more about the open-file policy, which allows defense attorneys full access to case files before trial.
The policy was enacted under late District Attorney Tim Curry.
"Tarrant County has a reputation of being among the best in the state, if not in the country," Bethke said. "We wanted to get a closer look at how it works."
Panel members gathered in the Family Law Court assembly room to quiz a prosecutor and the president of the Tarrant County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association about the philosophy.
Assistant District Attorney Tiffany Burks explained how the philosophy evolved from prosecutors sharing folders of case documents with defense lawyers to the current electronic system.
Today, defense attorneys log on to the system and view police reports, witness statements, crime scene photographs and more, she said. The system improves efficiency and helps ensure fair trials.
"We strive to make sure the defense attorney has access to everything," Burks said.
Warren St. John, president of the defense lawyers association, told the panel that he practices law across North Texas and that most counties are not nearly as forthcoming.
"A lot of counties, they’ll let you read stuff, but you can’t make a copy," St. John said. "You go to another county, and it’s not electronic. Then you go to another county, and you can’t look at anything.
"I consider it a privilege to practice law here.
He noted that Terri Moore, a former Tarrant County prosecutor who is now second in command of the Dallas County district attorney’s office, is trying to introduce an open-file policy there, where a large number of exonerations have drawn national headlines."
The story can be found at:
http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/1931480.html
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
