Senate Passes Tim Cole Act to Improve Compensation for Wrongfully Convicted and Their FamiliesNow HB 1736 goes back to the House which is expected to concur with Senate amendments, then the bill heads to the Governor's desk. Congrats to the Cole family and Texas exonerees - IMO this is a landmark achievement.
HB 1736 ensures justice for those posthumously exonerated
(Austin , Texas ) The Texas Senate today passed HB 1736, the Tim Cole Act, legislation to improve compensation for the wrongfully convicted and ensure justice for wrongfully convicted Texans who have died in prison.
The legislation, by Senators Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock) and Rodney Ellis (D-Houston), provides compensation for family members of wrongfully convicted Texans who have been posthumously exonerated, and increases compensation levels for other exonerees.
"The Tim Cole case should serve as a wake-up call to Texas ," said Senator Ellis. "It is time to get our house in order and enact reforms that, wherever possible, can help avert miscarriages of justice before they happen."
"It is a tragedy that brought House Bill 1736 to the Senate floor today, but the grace and dignity that Mr. Cole's family demonstrated while leading this important cause would surely make him proud," said Senator Duncan. "As a result of their efforts, Tim Cole's untimely death was not in vain. Criminal justice in Texas will be more fair and compensation for those wrongly convicted will be more adequate because the Legislature responded to Mr. Cole's terrible and sad struggle."
HB 1736 would:
• Increase the lump sum compensation for all exonerees from $50,000 to $80,000 per year of incarceration, including time spent in city or county jail. Current compensation only applies to time in a TDCJ cell, but not another kind of cell.
• Allows the lump sum compensation to pass to the family in the event the innocent person dies before release, as Timothy Cole did.
• Allows lump sum compensation of $25,000 per year spent on parole or registered as a sex offender.
• Creates lifetime annuity payments to the exoneree based on a present value of the lump sum compensation, annuitized using a 5% interest rate and payable in equal monthly installments using actuarial factors.
• Provides up to 120 hours of free tuition if the claimant desires to attend a state college.
• As under current law, a person who receives a subsequent felony conviction loses their eligibility for compensation. Any annuity payments would cease.
• Any person who accepts state compensation must give up any civil suit against the state, municipalities or other parties.
Tim Cole was a veteran, loving son, and student at Texas Tech University when he was wrongfully convicted of rape in 1985. He maintained his innocence until he died in prison of an asthma attack in 1999. The real rapist, Jerry Johnson, attempted to confess as early as 1995 and was finally successful at getting the attention of authorities in 2007 after he sent a letter to Tim Cole's mother. In 2008, DNA testing exonerated Tim Cole and implicated Mr. Johnson.
On February 4, 2009, the House of Representatives and the Senate passed resolutions honoring Tim Cole. On February 6, Cole was officially exonerated when Travis County District Judge Charlie Baird announced "to a 100 percent moral, factual and legal certainty" that Timothy Cole did not commit the crime which sent him to prison.
"I offer my sincere condolences and deepest sympathies to Tim Cole's family for the 13 long years he was forced to suffer in prison for a crime DNA proved he did not commit, and for the decade plus they fought to clear his name,' said Senator Ellis. "I hope that this legislation will help them finally find the peace they have so difficultly earned."
MORE: From the Lubbock Avalanche Journal, the Dallas News, and the Austin Statesman.
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13 comments:
Excellent. So sorry that Tim Cole had to literally give his life so that this could come to pass. Thanks to all those who worked to make this happen.
**I still hate the provision that a subsequent felony conviction voids your eligibility for compensation. I don't see what that has to do with anything. Would it be all that surprising if someone came out of prison after an experience like this, and, say, turned to drugs? I just don't like it.
The Tim Cole story is truly heartbreaking. The tragedy isn't so much that he was innocent, as the matter of justice that got him there. I mourn the loss of the man, however the real death was the death to any hopes of true justice from this state. May everyone involved that didn't listen burn in hell for what they have caused,
I agree, 123, that's problematic. But politics is the art of compromise and that's what could make it through the Lege.
FWIW, similar language was already in the compensation statute. Previously they got a smaller amount in two installments but if they committed another crime they didn't get the second installment. This gives a bigger lump sum up front then an annuity over time, which is what they lose if they commit another offense. IMO it's a good deal, and much better than the previous compensation statute.
The Tim Cole story makes me sick to my stomach. 39 DNA exonerations and more to come. It real clear that Texas has a problem.
I hear ya, Scott. I know that compromises have to be made. I just think it trivializes what was done to these people. You know, it's like saying that what was done to them doesn't count if they end up being guilty of something later. It's that type of attitude (well, if he's not guilty of this, he's guilty of something) that leads to wrongful convictions in the first place. But, I understand that sometimes things have to be done to get an otherwise very laudable bill passed.
Unlike the earlier poster, I don't wish for anyone involved in this case to "burn in hell," but I do hope that all those in law enforcement remember Tim and what happened to him when probably well-intentioned public servants honed in on a suspect without any real cause, and failed to properly investigate the evidence that pointed to his innocence.
You know, the legal system, once someone is convicted, makes it very difficult to get a case overturned, even with new evidence pointing to innocence. The problem in so many cases like Tim's is that the police and prosecutors treated Tim's situation once he was charged as if he had already been convicted. Evidence pointing to innocence was ignored; the lack of evidence pointing to guilt was ignored. It's fine for the system to deal with things that way after a conviction, but just being charged with a crime doesn't relieve the prosecutor of his obligation to fairly evaluate the evidence and determine whether he or she is really prosecuting the correct person.
"The problem in so many cases like Tim's is that the police and prosecutors treated Tim's situation once he was charged as if he had already been convicted. Evidence pointing to innocence was ignored; the lack of evidence pointing to guilt was ignored. It's fine for the system to deal with things that way after a conviction, but just being charged with a crime doesn't relieve the prosecutor of his obligation to fairly evaluate the evidence and determine whether he or she is really prosecuting the correct person."
Amen 123!
I'm very pleased that the Legislature took this step. But I can't help but remember those who have been wrongly convicted where DNA exoneration is not possible.
Only when Texas decides to hold corrupt and incompetent court officials accountable will it truly spare others from going through the terrible nightmare of false incarceration.
Why not make the counties pay where the defendant was sentenced in the first place? That might get somebody's attention.
anon 3:20 AM.
You asked about making the counties pay. Answer - The counties are not the party responsible for the wrongful conviction.
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A DA may be elected by a 'district' that includes a county. But All prosecutors are STATE actors employed to represent THE STATE OF TEXAS. Thus, the STATE (meaning the government of the land of Texas) is the party responsbible and liable for malfeasance or negligence (including unintentional, unknowable, error)by the prosecuting attorney.
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The DA, and other STATE actors right on up to the Governor, have a duty to manage and supervise their Actors across the State employed as Prosecutors. Obviously, these servants have failed in the performance of their duties to the people of Texas.
P.S. The caps in this post are for the purpose of indicating an artificial entity / creature of law (supposedly bound by the same law by which it was created).
The only thing that the bill should have that is missing is an additional sum if the wrongly convicted individual died while still incarcerated.
I don't see that ever passing though.
Yeah, my concern with making the specific locality pay in the case of a wrongful conviction is that would just give one more incentive for the local authorities to not support overturning convictions when they should be overturned. I don't want a DA worried about the monetary consequences when he's deciding whether to support a defense motion to overturn the conviction. And if there was real misconduct and the exoneree wants to pursue a suit against local authorities, he or she still can do so by choosing not to pursue compensation through the state.
I do not agree with the mandatory dropping of any lawsuit if you take the cash. What happens if the person contracts something directly linked to the stay in prison? What happens if someone still has a copy of the sex offender registry BEFORE the wrongly convicted was taken off, and they decide to harm the innocent person?
I believe the liability of the state, entities, people should only go away if the person wrongfully convicted allows it to happen on their own terms, not due to the heavy handed rule of the state.
"I don't want a DA worried about the monetary consequences when he's deciding whether to support a defense motion to overturn the conviction."
So what are you saying 123? Do you want him worried about his record, prestige, pride, ego, professional standing? If you use that logic then no DA should be implicated (intended or not)in any wrongful conviction for fear of reprisal.
At least if the tax payers that elected him felt the pinch, they might think twice before going to the polls.
I know I'm a little late on the discussion...but what about the families of the men who are still alive??? What about child support that didn't get paid, college funds that weren't contributed to, etc?
I'm also a bit biased on this as I am an adult child of an exoneree.
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