Justice Delayed

"I find to a 100-percent moral, factual and reasonable certainty that Timothy Cole did not sexually assault" Michele Mallin, [State District Judge Charlie] Baird said at the conclusion of two days of sometimes wrenching testimony.

"I find that Timothy Cole's reputation was wrongly injured. That his reputation must be restored and that his good name must be vindicated," the judge said in an impromptu ruling from the bench.

Rape charge dismissed against Fort Worth man who died in prison

It's good that the judge decided that Cole's record be cleared. I doubt that Lubbock County will fight that, so his mother should have her wish that her son's good name be restored.

But what is a "moral certainty?"

Grave Error

In March of 1985, Texas Tech sophomore Michele Mallin was abducted and raped. Authorities arrested, tried and convicted Timothy Cole of the crime. The case was problematic from the start. Mallin said that her assailant smoked the entire time - Cole was asthmatic. She'd been driven to a vacant lot by the assailant in her car - Cole's fingerprints were nowhere in evidence. Cole had an alibi - he was at his brother's home, studying during a card party, and a number of witnesses placed him there at the time of the rape. But Mallin, when presented of a Polaroid of Cole, said that he was the man, and assumed that the police had actual evidence of his guilt.

Starting in 1995 (once the statute of limitations had lapsed), the actual rapist (who, incidentally, had been in jail with Cole), attempted to confess to the crime. And was ignored. Throughout multiple attempts. Over 12 years. It wasn't until he sent a letter to Cole, whom he assumed was out on parole, that anyone took him seriously.

But Cole never saw the letter. He'd died from his asthma in 1999. Still in prison.

His family sought to clear his name.

"With Johnson's letter in hand, Cole's family went to the media. In response, the Lubbock D.A.'s office announced it would run modern DNA tests. When the results came back, it was Jerry Wayne Johnson's DNA on the swabs in the rape kit, not Timothy Cole's.

The Innocence Project of Texas sought relief in court to clear Cole's name, but no judge in Lubbock would grant them a hearing. Darnell, the former district attorney who later became a local family court judge, did not respond to repeated requests for an interview. However, he told the Lubbock paper that he regretted what happened to Cole."

Although the Lubbock courts refused to revisit the case, the Texas state District courts were more charitable, and granted a hearing. The Lubbock County district attorney's office did not participate.

It's understandable the no-one involved in the original case wants to have anything to do with it now. DNA from the rape kit says that they sent the wrong man to prison, where, still maintaining his innocence, he died. Insisting that Cole was guilty, in the face of DNA evidence proving that Johnson was in fact the rapist, is a pretty much untenable position for the Lubbock County DA's office. Coming clean would open them up to liability. And it's unlikely that making Cole's family whole is going to come cheaply.

Cole refused to plead guilty at trial, or to confess in prison to get a shot at parole. He may have paid for his scruples with his life.

"You are to understand you are not to be blamed for this," [state District Judge Charles] Baird said [to Mallin.] "We're all sorry it turned out this way."

Unfortunately, "Sorry" only counts when it can bring back the dead.

A Better Use For Your Money

Recently, there was yet another teapot tempest when a couple had their deceased dog, Lancelot, cloned. One thing that has become common to these sorts of non-events is someone in the animal-welfare business complaining that the money that the pet-owners poured into staving off bereavement could have done something they consider more worthy.

"Dr. Sara Pizano, of Miami-Dade County’s animal services department, told the Miami Herald that for the price the Ottos paid for having Lancelot cloned, 'we could do spays and neuters for six months.'"

This echoes a similar case from a few years ago, when the now-defunct Genetic Saving and Clone cloned a housecat named Nicky for its owner.

David Magnus of the Center for Biomedical Ethics at Stanford University said: "Its morally problematic and a little reprehensible. For $50,000 (£26,000) she could have provided homes for a lot of strays."
"Pet kitten cloned for Christmas"

Okay. So what? Why does this matter? I'm always curious when people phrase things in the way that Dr. Pizano or Mr. Magnus does. "We could do spays and neuters for six months." "For $50,000 she could have provided homes for a lot of strays." This is becoming a well-worn refrain whenever someone spends a bunch of cash on something that's widely considered frivolous, or otherwise fails to be properly charitable. In an effort to provide balance (criticism?), someone goes out and finds someone who'll complain that they could have spent the money on something better. But we're never told why it's the responsibility of the people who are spending the money (such as the Ottos) to spend it on someone else's priorities.

And you rarely see such logic being widely applied to more mundane purchases, even very expensive ones. Despite the fact that ZipCars could do a lot with $250,000.00, no one goes to interview their spokesperson complaining about that when some local showoff buys a brand-new Lamborghini.

The idea that there are better things to do with your money, than what you're doing with it, is an old one, and still going strong. The Global Rich List lists a number of things that you might like to do with your money, along with the things that they'd rather do with your money. But the folks at GRL are activists. I expect such out of them. But I don't want activism, especially such selective activism, from the news media.

Wrong Word

If I were attempting to build an advertising campaign around a single word, that word would NOT be "Obey." Mainly because I'm a fan of old-school Doctor Who, and every time I see "1 Flat Stomach Rule: Obey" - I simply can't get away from the image of a bunch of people locked in a health club with a giant self-propelled pepper shaker with a plunger for an arm screaming at them: "You will get in shape with the Daleks! You will perform thirty-thousand sit-ups! Obey! OBEY!" Unlike other would-be alien conquerors of Earth, the Daleks did not sound dark and menacing. Instead they sounded shrill and hysterical - these were aliens in dire need of decaf.

Bummer

The Cards gave it a good run, and nearly made history, but they had too many penalties and their defense couldn't hold on...