Perry to present pardon papers to Cole's family in Fort Worth
Gov. Rick Perry will be in Fort Worth on Friday to formally present the family of Tim Cole with a posthumous pardon he granted the wrongfully convicted inmate this month.
Cole (left), who died in prison in 1999 while serving a 25-year sentence, was exonerated by a Travis County judge last year after DNA testing cleared him of the 1985 rape of a Texas Tech student.
His family will attend the ceremony at 2:30 p.m. at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel.
The rape victim, who worked to exonerate Cole, is also expected to attend.
Perry will present the pardon document and a flag that flew over the state Capitol.
"The governor wants to personally deliver the pardon to the family," a Perry spokeswoman said.
BATF: flashlight was an 'improvised explosive device'
Federal officials are calling it "very fortunate" that an east Fort Worth jogger was not injured Wednesday morning when he brought home a flashlight he'd found on the side of the road, only to discover that it might be a bomb.
Tom Crowley, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, described the device as a flashlight with a fuse and suspected explosive powder meant to function similar to a pipe bomb.
"Something like this could have still blown somebody's hand up," Crowley said. "Even without additional shrapnel in there, the flashlight or container itself can travel in 360 degrees in all directions."
Burleson attorney indicted, surrenders law license
A Burleson attorney accused of falsifying court documents in two Johnson County cases has agreed to surrender his Texas law license permanently in lieu of being disciplined by the State Bar of Texas.
Kevin S. Williams was indicted Jan. 29 by a Johnson County grand jury on several charges accusing him of presenting a counterfeit divorce decree to a client's wife Oct. 8 and falsifying a petition in a breach of contract suit Sept. 18.
On Monday, the Texas Supreme Court accepted Williams' motion to resign as attorney and counselor at law. Criminal action against Williams is pending.
-- Compiled by Bill Miller from the work of colleagues Dave Montgomery, Deanna Boyd and Martha Deller.
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