Tim Cole Becomes Permanent Figure In Lubbock

Most students come to Texas Tech University in hopes of success. It may have taken 30 years, but Tim Cole has posthumously achieved that goal.

Cole was a 26-year-old Army veteran pursuing a business degree at Tech. In March 1985, he was falsely accused of rape. Cole served 14 years of his 25-year sentence before dying in prison in 1999. Thanks to his family, Cole’s legacy has become much more than a wrongful conviction.

Tim Cole's senior picture on display at the revealing of the new statue on 19th Street and University Avenue. Photograph taken by Lucinda Holt.

Tim Cole’s senior picture on display at the revealing of the new statue on 19th Street and University Avenue. Photograph taken by Lucinda Holt.

“…he believed in the justice system.”

In 1985, a serial rapist referred to as “The Tech Rapist” committed four rapes near campus. Although the police had come up with a composite sketch, there were few leads in the case.

On March 24, 1985, Tech student Michele Mallin was in her car across 19th Street from her residence hall on campus. An African-American male approached her and asked for a jump for his car battery. When Mallin said she did not have any jumper cables, the man reached in through her window and unlocked the door.

Mallin tried to fight back by biting the man’s thumb, but he pushed her into the back of the car. He next drove to an empty field outside of town and raped her, with a knife at her throat the whole time. The assailant then drove Mallin back to Lubbock and left. Mallin reported the crime to the Lubbock Police Department.

Two weeks later, Cole had a conversation with a police detective outside of a pizza parlor close to campus. Cole said he was at home studying the night of Mallin’s attack. The conversation lead to Cole becoming one of the primary suspects in the rape investigation.

A polaroid picture of Cole was shown to Mallin, and she identified him as her rapist. The polaroid was the only colored picture shown to Mallin that had the suspect faced toward the camera. All of the other suspects’  pictures were profile views. Mallin also identified Cole in a lineup as the perpetrator. None of the other victims of the “Tech Rapist” identified Cole as the perpetrator. No DNA evidence obtained from the five incidents matched Cole.

Michele Mallin, who misidentified Cole in the 1980s, now works with the Innocence Project of Texas to help justify wrongful convictions. Photograph by Lucinda Holt.

Michele Mallin, who misidentified Cole in the 1980s, now works with the Innocence Project of Texas to help justify wrongful convictions. Photograph by Lucinda Holt.

In 1986, Cole was tried for the rape of Mallin. Despite his strong alibi and the lack of evidence, Cole was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was not charged with any of the other Tech rapes.

Cory Session, Cole’s brother, said he knew his brother did not commit the crime.

“He was very optimistic; he believed in the justice system,” Sessions said. “This is the land of the free, the home of the brave, liberty and justice for all. We were raised that way. We were taught that if you did something, you own up to it. But if you didn’t, you defend it to your dying breath.”

“You have to look at all the facts.”

Cole tried to appeal his conviction many times, but it was denied each time. After the statute of limitation on the case expired in 1995, a prisoner serving a 99-year sentence for sexual assault wrote a letter to police and prosecutors in Lubbock to confess to the rape of Michele Mallin. Jerry Wayne Johnson‘s confession letters would go unanswered.

The Innocence Project of Texas worked with the Cole family to overturn Cole's conviction.

The Innocence Project of Texas worked with the Cole family to overturn Cole’s conviction.

Tim Cole died in prison from an asthma attack in 1999. He never knew that Johnson had confessed to the crime he had served 14 years in prison for.

The Innocence Project of Texas  and Cole’s family began working on the case. After DNA evidence proved Johnson was the rapist, the trial went back to court. In 2009, Cole became the first person to be posthumously exonerated for a crime he did not commit in Texas.

Mallin said she was shocked to find out about Cole’s wrongful conviction.

“When I first found out he was dead, I didn’t know there was a wrongful conviction; I had no idea,” Mallin said. “Then I felt terrible.”

Mallin said she hopes this case will help other victims see the importance of a proper identification.

“You have to look at all the facts,” Mallin said. “Wrongful conviction can happen to anyone. We need to make sure we have the right person in person. Witness identification, I mean, we could all be wrong. It can happen to anybody. But, you have to have more evidence than that.”

“It’s a glorious day.”

Since his exoneration, Cole’s family has worked tirelessly to pass legislation in his honor. The Timothy Cole Act increased compensation paid to those who have been exonerated and their families, earning them $80,000 per year served. The Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions was created in 2009 to study wrongful convictions across Texas.

On September 17, the City of Lubbock unveiled a statue of Cole on the corner of 19th Street and University Avenue in the newly dedicated Tim Cole Memorial Park.

Hundred of people came to admire the new Tim Cole Statue on September 17. Photograph by Lucinda Holt.

Hundred of people came to admire the new Tim Cole Statue on September 17. Photograph by Lucinda Holt.

The statue, sculpted by Eddie Dixon, features Cole looking west toward the Tech Law School. Cole’s birth year and death year are engraved on the shoes of the statue.

The dedication ceremony brought many Texas politicians to Lubbock, including Governor Rick Perry and both gubernatorial candidates, Greg Abbott and Wendy Davis.

Cory Session said his family celebrated when the conviction was originally overturned five years ago. Session said his mother, Ruby Cole Session, who passed away in 2013, would have been proud of the shrine dedicated in her eldest son’s memory.

“My, she said she was asked once, ‘What do you want from the city of Lubbock?’,” Session said. “‘Your son — wrongfully convicted — died in prison. What do you need from them and what would you want?’ And, she said, ‘What I need they cannot give me. What I want is for them to never forget.’ And, at one of the busiest intersections in Lubbock, I don’t see how they ever could forget.”

 

Anibal Galindo, Lucinda Holt and Dylan Smyth contributed to this report. 

About Sarah Self-Walbrick

Graduate Executive Director — Mass Communication Graduate Student, Class of 2017
Sarah, a Lubbock native, has two bachelor of art degrees in electronic media and communication and journalism, and is pursuing a master's in mass communications. She loves Texas, her husband and dog, and good storytelling.