The Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions Begins Work
At the close of the 2009 legislative session lawmakers approved a bill creating the Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions to assist the Task Force on Indigent Defense in conducting a study on the prevention of wrongful convictions. The Cole panel was named in honor of Timothy Cole, a wrongfully convicted man who died in prison before DNA testing exonerated him. At the inaugural meeting of the Panel, members will hear from Timothy Cole’s brother, Cory Session, who worked tirelessly for reforms to prevent wrongful convictions during the last legislative session.
The Cole Panel will benefit from the large amount of work done in a number of studies in other states on the causes of wrongful convictions. State inquiries from North Carolina, Illinois, Wisconsin, and California, among others, have addressed a common list of problems, including flawed eyewitness identification procedures, unrecorded interrogations, snitch witnesses, and forensic failures. The panel will also have the benefit of studying the experience of jurisdictions that have implemented reforms successfully. A final report with reform recommendations is expected before the next legislative session convenes in January, 2011.
