Texas governor gives copy of pardon to family of man who died in prison, later cleared by DNA

Texas gov. gives copy of pardon to man’s family

FORT WORTH, Texas — The family of a Texas man who died while imprisoned for a rape he didn’t commit has been given a framed copy of the state’s first posthumous pardon — a document that finally proves his innocence.

Gov. Rick Perry granted Timothy Cole’s pardon nearly three weeks ago and gave his relatives the document Friday at a Fort Worth hotel.

Perry called the occasion “solemn” but “joyful” because it restored Cole’s “good name.”

Cole was cleared by DNA testing in 2008, nine years after he died in prison at age 39 of asthma complications. He had been in prison more than 13 years.

The test that cleared Cole in a Texas Tech University student’s rape also implicated convicted rapist Jerry Wayne Johnson.

Johnson cannot be prosecuted because the statute of limitations has expired.