Legislators, Cole Family Call for Constitutional Amendment on Posthumous Pardons to be Added to Special Session Call
- By Staff Writer
- Published 07/7/2009
- Political
- Unrated
AUSTIN- Senator Rodney Ellis, Representatives Ruth Jones McClendon and Marc Veasey joined Ruby and Cory Session, mother and brother of Tim Cole, urged Governor Perry to add a posthumous pardons constitutional amendment to the call of the special session. Cole was posthumously exonerated in 2009 and today would have been his 49th birthday. In September 1986, he was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison for a rape he did not commit. He professed his innocence until he died in prison of an asthma attack in 1999.
The real rapist, Jerry Johnson, attempted to confess to the rape beginning in 1995. In 2007, he wrote to Ruby Session, Cole’s mother, confessing to the crime and not knowing that Tim had already passed away. In May 2008, DNA evidence revealed that Cole was innocent and that Johnson was the true rapist.
The real rapist, Jerry Johnson, attempted to confess to the rape beginning in 1995. In 2007, he wrote to Ruby Session, Cole’s mother, confessing to the crime and not knowing that Tim had already passed away. In May 2008, DNA evidence revealed that Cole was innocent and that Johnson was the true rapist.