The story

The family of Timothy Cole, a Texas man who died in prison nearly a decade ago while serving a sentence for a rape he swore he did not commit, is hoping a court will issue the state's first posthumous exoneration.

Cole was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison for the 1985 rape of 20-year-old Michele Mallin. He maintained his innocence, but it was not confirmed by DNA until years after his 1999 death, when another inmate confessed to the rape.

"Everybody thinks he died a felon, a hardened criminal," Cole's brother, Cory Session, told CNN. "That's what hurts." Read full article »

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