imothy Cole became the prime suspect in a series of rapes on the Texas Tech campus in 1985 after he engaged in small talk with an undercover female officer sent to the area where the attacks occurred. The Lubbock police placed the undercover officer in the area with the hope of luring out the “Texas Tech rapist.”
The last victim in the Texas Tech rapes was shown a photo lineup that included a picture of Cole. The victim identified Cole as her attacker. Cole’s picture was the only color Polaroid photo in a group of five black and white mug shots, and the victim later stated that police and prosecutors repeatedly described Cole as a “low-life hood.” At a subsequent live lineup, four other Texas Tech rape victims failed to identify Cole as their attacker. Only the final victim of the most recent rape stated she had no doubt about Cole. Cole was convicted and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison.
Timothy Cole was wrongfully convicted based on a false eyewitness identification. He
died in prison after serving thirteen years.
Years later, Jerry Wayne Johnson, the defense team’s prime suspect, made two attempts to confess to the crime that placed Cole behind bars, but they went ignored. Cole and his family did not know about either of these attempted confessions until years later. Cole died in prison in 1999 from a severe asthma attack.
DNA testing conducted after Cole’s death revealed that Johnson had indeed raped the Texas Tech student, not Cole. In an unprecedented hearing in February 2009, Johnson took the stand and confessed to the crime for which Cole had been convicted. As a result, Cole was exonerated and his criminal record was ordered expunged. Michele Mallin, the victim who misidentified Cole, came forward and spoke out publicly in support of eyewitness identification reform.
Because of one mistaken eyewitness identification, Timothy Cole spent thirteen years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
