Texas Senate OKs Wrongful Conviction Exoneration Commission
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AUSTIN (AP) — The Texas Senate has approved a bill establishing an 11-member commission that will examine wrongful convictions.
Tuesday's 31-0 vote came years after Houston Democratic Sen. Rodney Ellis first tried to pass the measure. The House already approved a similar bill, and both versions may go to conference committee.
The commission is named for Timothy Cole, who died in prison after he was wrongfully convicted of rape.
Cole was cleared 10 years after he died, and in 2010 became the first Texan to receive a posthumous pardon.
Ellis said the commission will examine exoneration cases since 2010 "to see what went wrong" and make recommendations to avoid similar occurrences.
Texas exonerated 39 people in 2014, leading the country. Most were drug convictions dismissed after lab results were found to be faulty.
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