Pardon recommended for man who died in prison

The Texas pardons and parole board recommended clemency in the case of a man who died in prison after he was wrongly convicted of rape.

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported the recommendation in Tim Cole's case was forwarded to Governor Rick Perry's office on Friday.

Mr Cole's family expressed relief over the recommendation.

Mr Cole died in 1999 aged 39. He was convicted of the 1985 rape of a Texas Tech University student in Lubbock.

A 2008 DNA test cleared Mr Cole and implicated convicted rapist Jerry Wayne Johnson, who confessed in several letters to court officials dating back to 1995.