Rep. McClendon passes Timothy Cole Innocence Commission Bill
- By Staff Writer
- Published 05/26/2009
- Political
- Unrated
AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO- House Bill 498, filed by State Representative Ruth Jones McClendon (San Antonio, House District 120), would create a commission to investigate and prevent wrongful convictions. The House of Representatives approved it on third and final reading. Representative McClendon stated, “As lawmakers, we have a responsibility to change Texas law to prevent this outrageous miscarriage of justice, which results in the irreparable loss of the person’s family, job, parental rights, not to mention the effect it has on families and friends of the innocent”.
This session, the Texas Legislature has noted the high number of wrongly convicted persons in Texas and has decided to address it through positive legislation. It is evident that Timothy Cole’s story struck a cord with the Texas Legislature. Representative Anchia’s HB 1736 also creates the Timothy Cole Act, which would increase the compensation the State of Texas pays to those individuals found to have been wrongly imprisoned. The commission would be named the Timothy Cole Innocence Commission in honor of Timothy Cole, an innocent Texan and an Army veteran, who served ten years of a 25-year sentence after being convicted of a sexual assault he did not commit. Unfortunately, Cole was not able to see the day he was found innocent and his name cleared, because he died in prison in 1999 at the of age 39, after being convicted due to a false eyewitness identification.
HB 498 would establish this commission in order to investigate and prevent wrongful convictions by evaluating an array of factors that can lead to those results. These evidentiary errors can include false eyewitness identifications, unreliable/limited science, false confessions, forensic science misconduct, government misconduct, unreliable informants, and ineffective representation in court. According to the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition Policy Guide of 2009, the cost of incarcerating an individual in prison is approximately $43 per day or about $15,695 per year. As compared with the cost of a DNA test at $4,000-5,000 and the cost to the person wrongfully convicted, and their family, the prevention of a wrongful conviction represents a financially sound decision in regard to criminal prosecutions. Ultimately, the objective is to eliminate the number of innocent men and women incarcerated in Texas’ already overpopulated prisons.
This session, the Texas Legislature has noted the high number of wrongly convicted persons in Texas and has decided to address it through positive legislation. It is evident that Timothy Cole’s story struck a cord with the Texas Legislature. Representative Anchia’s HB 1736 also creates the Timothy Cole Act, which would increase the compensation the State of Texas pays to those individuals found to have been wrongly imprisoned. The commission would be named the Timothy Cole Innocence Commission in honor of Timothy Cole, an innocent Texan and an Army veteran, who served ten years of a 25-year sentence after being convicted of a sexual assault he did not commit. Unfortunately, Cole was not able to see the day he was found innocent and his name cleared, because he died in prison in 1999 at the of age 39, after being convicted due to a false eyewitness identification.
HB 498 would establish this commission in order to investigate and prevent wrongful convictions by evaluating an array of factors that can lead to those results. These evidentiary errors can include false eyewitness identifications, unreliable/limited science, false confessions, forensic science misconduct, government misconduct, unreliable informants, and ineffective representation in court. According to the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition Policy Guide of 2009, the cost of incarcerating an individual in prison is approximately $43 per day or about $15,695 per year. As compared with the cost of a DNA test at $4,000-5,000 and the cost to the person wrongfully convicted, and their family, the prevention of a wrongful conviction represents a financially sound decision in regard to criminal prosecutions. Ultimately, the objective is to eliminate the number of innocent men and women incarcerated in Texas’ already overpopulated prisons.