Timothy Cole Exoneration Review Commission

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Timothy Cole Exoneration Review Commission

Staff: David Slayton, Administrative Director, Timothy Cole passed Office of Court Administration away in 1999 while he [email protected] was serving a 25-year Wesley Shackelford, Deputy Director, sentence for a crime he Texas Indigent Defense Commission did not commit. Nearly [email protected] 10 years after his death Alejandra Peña, Research Specialist, TCERC, Office of Court Administration Timothy Cole he was posthumously [email protected] exonerated through DNA evidence making it Terri Peirce, Judicial Information Data Analyst, Exoneration TCERC, Office of Court Administration the first posthumously [email protected] DNA exoneration in Review Texas history. Commission Office of Court Administration 205 W. 14th St., Suite 600 Austin, TX 78701 (512) 463-1625 www.txcourts.gov Commission Members: Presiding Officer – Representative John T. Smithee, District 86, Amarillo The Honorable Sharon Keller, Chair, Texas Indigent Defense Commission Senator Joan Huffman, District 17 Houston Senator John Whitmire, District 15 Houston Representative Abel Herrero, District 34, Corpus Christi John Beauchamp, General Counsel, Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Sam Bassett, President, Texas Criminal Defense House Author: Senate Sponsor: Senator Lawyers Association Representative Ruth Jones Rodney Ellis, et al. Dr. Vincent Di Maio, Presiding Officer, Texas McClendon, et al. Forensic Science Commission Charles Eskridge, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, Houston J. Staley Heatly, Chairman, Texas District and County Attorneys Association Carol Vance, Retired, Houston House Bill 48 The TCERC is a study commission charged with the following: The Timothy Cole Exoneration To review cases in the State of Texas in Review Commission (TCERC) was which an innocent defendant was convicted created by House Bill 48 which of a crime and then, on or after January 1, th passed by the 84 Texas 2010, was exonerated. Legislature. It became effective June 1, 2015 upon Governor To consider potential implementation plans, Abbott’s signature. costs, cost savings, and the impact on the criminal justice system for each potential The TCERC was created under but solution identified through the work of the Advisory Members: independent from the Texas commission. Judicial Council, and is Tiffany J. Dowling, Director, Texas Center for administratively attached to the Actual Innocence at the University of Texas To review and update the research, report, School of Law Office of Court Administration. and recommendations of the Timothy Cole Executive Director, Anthony S. Haughton, Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions Innocence Project at the Thurgood Marshall established by the 81st Regular Session. School of Law at Texas Southern University Cassandra Jeu, Director, Texas Innocence Network, University of Houston Law Center Mike Ware, Executive Director, The Innocence Project of Texas .

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