Texas board urges pardon in wrongful conviction

The Associated Press
Saturday, February 27, 2010; 5:30 PM

LUBBOCK, Texas -- The Texas pardons and parole board has recommended clemency in the case of a man who died in prison after he was wrongly convicted of rape.

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported Saturday the recommendation in Tim Cole's case was forwarded to Gov. Rick Perry's office Friday.

Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle tells The Associated Press that he looks forward to pardoning Cole.

Cole's family has expressed relief over the recommendation.

Cole died in 1999 at age 39. He was convicted of the 1985 rape of a Texas Tech University student in Lubbock.

A 2008 DNA test cleared Cole and implicated convicted rapist Jerry Wayne Johnson, who confessed in several letters to court officials dating back to 1995.

Cole would be the state's first posthumous pardon.