A California prison inmate's family waited for hours in El Centro but never got a chance to celebrate Reggie Cole's release from custody. He was convicted of murder in 1994, but the California Innocence Project helped convince a judge to overturn that conviction in 2009. However, he killed a man while in jail and that crime is holding up his release. California Innocence Project director Justin Brooks is disappointed for the family and Cole.
"We work so hard on these cases to get our clients released and this is the big day," say Brooks. "The culmination of our work and to get everybody together and have the inmate feel like he's coming home and he's not. I can't imagine what Reggie's feeling right now."
California prison officials decided in February to release Cole from Calipatria State Prison today, but they recalculated and decided he won't be released until summer. Brooks says Cole will be held in custody until June.
