Timothy Cole bill heads to governor's desk

AUSTIN - A bill named in honor of Timothy Cole is finally going to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk for his signature.

The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of House Bill 48, a measure that would create the Timothy Cole Exoneration Review Commission.

The final vote was 138-5, with all House members from the Texas Panhandle/South Plains delegation voting for the legislation.

"Thank you. I just want to briefly say that I appreciate those who stood by me," state Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio, said while surrounded by more than 50 of her colleagues.

"Last session was the roughest that we even had," McClendon said in reference to a similar proposal that was killed in the Senate Criminal Justice Committee after passing overwhelmingly in the House.

The legislation had been filed since the early 2000s and some bills were killed in the waning days of a session.

"It makes a difference when you have people who believe in you," an emotional McClendon said.

After her speech, she issued a statement saying her work is not finished.

"I am grateful and happy that the Timothy Cole Exoneration Review Commission is now a reality!" she said. "Next session, we can propose some changes based on the outcome of the research and evaluation done by the Commission."

State Rep. Jeff Leach, co-author of HB 48, called the passage of the legislation "a tremendous victory for the House, for the Legislature and for this lady (McClendon) here. … Many of us on both sides of the aisle, Republicans, Democrats, conservative, liberals worked on this effort."

The 11-member commission would review wrongful convictions overturned after Jan. 1, 2010 to determine what went wrong and then recommend reforms needed to avoid the type of prosecutorial or forensic mistakes that led to the guilty verdict of an innocent person.

Cole, a Texas Tech University student, was convicted of a rape he did not commit and died in prison in 1999, 14 years after his conviction.

HB 48 had initially passed in the House on May 1 but it came back for another vote because the Senate made some changes, including one that would increase the number of panel members from nine to 11 and another that would review only convictions overturned after Jan. 1, 2010.

There are more than 100 wrongful convictions overturned since that date, said state Sen. Rodney Ellis, the Senate sponsor of HB 48.

In all, with more than 200 wrongful convictions proved, especially with the help of DNA testing, Texas leads the nation in this category, Ellis said.

"Texas takes away the liberty of more citizens through incarceration than any other state in this nation," Ellis said after the Senate unanimously approved the bill two days earlier. "With that power comes the responsibility to make sure we are locking up only the guilty, protecting the innocent, and continuing to make our justice system as reliable, fair, and effective as possible."

State Rep. Abel Herrero, chairman of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, the panel that reviewed the merits of the bill, said though the legislation was killed in previous sessions, he and others in the panel felt this was the year it would pass.

"Every year that this bill has been filed, everyone thought it was extremely important," Herrero, D-Robstown said. "We're extremely grateful and happy that that day has come."

State Rep. John Frullo, R-Lubbock, whose House District 84 represents Texas Tech, said he is glad the bill finally passed.

"It is good for Lubbock and it's good for the state," Frullo said.

House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, praised McClendon for her efforts in passing the legislation.

"Because of Ruth's perseverance, wrongful convictions will become less frequent in the future and the public will have greater faith in our criminal justice system," Straus said.