Some are telling the truth - are we listening?
Yesterday a District Court judge in Austin - Charlie Baird - issued an opinion formally exonerating Timothy Cole of rape. What's historic is that Cole died in prison; as far as I know, no one has ever been exonerated after their death. Thank's to Grits, you can view the opinion here.
Cole was convicted of raping MIchelle Mallin, who had positively identified him. Mallin was present at the hearing - flying in from out of state with her husband - and has been a vocal supporter of Cole's family. She also has become a vocal supporter of innocence reform legislation.
Baird was critical of the police investigation, which he said zeroed in on Cole and ignored clues that could have led investigators elsewhere. He also took the opportunity to pitch legislative reform, including revising eyewitness identification procedures, and improving access to the courts for those pursuing innocence claims. That's a start, but I don't think its near enough. We need to change our mindset, which is far harder to do.
Cole's case has a happy ending - largely because of the resolve of his family. They were able to convince the Texas Innocence Project to take the case - I doubt it took much persuasion. The actual rapist had been trying for several years to take responsibility, and exonerate. He had written letters to everyone he could think of, and they were all ignored. Unfortunately, that is not uncommon. Authorities have to deal with hundreds of such claims - and the vast majority are groundless. However, some have merit, and they get dismissed far too easily. Somehow, we need a system to identify those claims that need to be investigated. Providing money is a good start - we cannot expect a few lawyers to shoulder the responsibility of providing representation in these cases - there is so much pro bono work you can do; you still have to pay the bills.
Criminal defense lawyers don't get a pass on this. I handle post-conviction litigation and supervise a innocence clinic at Baylor Law School. I cannot guess at the number of letters I've received from inmates declaring their innocence. Unfortunately, I've received a few letters from people who were able to obtain relief from someone who listened to them. I try to take each claim seriously, but its human nature to become jaded when so many turn out to be false.
We can set up the best system humans can devise, but it will still be run by people. Unless those in the system take it seriously, there are still going to be those who fall through the cracks. How you do that I don't know. I do know that when you see cases like Timothy Cole you look at things a little differently - at least for awhile. We need to constantly remind ourselves that there many other Timothy Cole's out there - trying to get someone to listen.
I realize not everyone who says they are innocent actually is - most probably aren't. I also recognize that there are probably a lot of innocent people who are never going to be able to prove their innocence, even with the best team of lawyers. No matter what system you devise, there will always be those who can't meet their burden.
Timothy Cole was lucky (if you can call dying in prison a convicted rapist lucky) - there's no doubt there are others that are not so lucky. I believe the legislature has finally realized - after years of prodding - that something needs to be done. Thank you to everyone involvied in obtaining this result - it should be a lesson to us all.
