AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- A posthumous DNA exoneration has been given to a Texas man who died in jail while serving a sentence for a 1985 rape he did not commit, officials said.
State District Judge Charlie Baird announced in a Travis County courtroom Friday that Timothy Cole, who died in 1999, did not commit the Lubbock, Texas, rape that sent him to prison for life, the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman reported.
Tears and exclamations of thanks came from Cole's family who had gathered at the hearing in Austin. After adjourning court, Baird came down from the bench and embraced some of them, the newspaper said.
Cole's family called on the Texas Legislature to pass a bill that would standardize the way police conduct photographic lineups to eliminate any potential police bias. They reportedly said Lubbock police were to blame for influencing the rape victim's incorrect identification of Cole as the man who attacked her.
During the hearing Friday, convicted rapist Jerry Johnson admitted he was to blame for the 1985 sexual assault, the American-Statesman said.
