United States Army

Lubbock Unveils Statue of Wrongly Convicted Man

Twenty-eight years to the day after Timothy Cole was falsely convicted of raping a Texas Tech student, Lubbock and state officials will unveil a statue honoring the U.S. Army veteran on a street corner not far from where the victim was abducted.

Gov. Rick Perry pardoned Cole more than 10 years after he died in prison following DNA tests that proved another man committed the crime.

On Wednesday, Perry will be among those attending a ceremony to place a granite marker with a bronze relief memorial sculpture on city property.

Cole was convicted on Sept. 17, 1986, but always maintained his innocence.

He's the only Texan pardoned posthumously using DNA.

In 2009, Perry signed into law a bill championed by Cole's mother that boosted lump-sum payments to those imprisoned wrongfully.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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