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As the death toll in stifling Texas prisons climbs, congressional Democrats are asking for an investigation since most Texas prisons lack air conditioning. At least 41 prisoners have died of heart-related or undetermined causes since the unrelenting heat wave began.

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Jodi Cole, Schwartz’s attorney, said, “They really trotted out all of the slut-shaming things they possibly could do . . . That is just capitalizing on those archaic stereotypes of how trauma affects us.”

Bernie Tiede won't face charge that he stole millions from East Texas widow he killed.

Cole, in part because of what she saw in the film, reviewed the case and wound up finding that Tiede had been repeatedly sexually abused as a child, a revelation that helped convince Dist. Atty. Danny Buck Davidson, who originally put Tiede away (he’s played in the film by a boisterous Matthew McConaughey), and State District Judge Diane DeVasto that Tiede’s actions were probably influenced by the abuse.

A defense lawyer, Jodi Callaway Cole, saw the movie and asked Mr. Linklater for the trial transcripts. She had a hunch there was more to the story, and like the filmmaker, she thought a life sentence seemed too harsh. “Jodi’s the hero,” Mr. Linklater said.

The break came in an obscure document — a list of items found in a police search of Tiede’s home. Buried in the catalog of book titles, Cole found four self-help volumes for victims of child sexual abuse. One such book might have a benign explanation, but four?

Carthage, TX is shocked when millionaire Marjorie Nugent is found dead in her freezer. Wait until you hear who did it. A tale so gripping...Hollywood came calling.

One way or another, Bernie Tiede, has been dealing with death and darkness since he was 3 years old.. "My daddy and my mother … they had a car accident, and my mother was riding in the passenger's side of the car and daddy never forgave himself for that, he never forgave himself for that," Tiede tearfully told "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant.

"The chain of deception utilized by the state is at best gross incompetence and at worst flagrant misconduct," Cole said in the state petition, which also alluded to the region's history of racial prejudice.

Their conduct further corroborated to me personally, that what we thought happened had happened - the state had hidden evidence to wrongfully gain a conviction for a death penalty case.

“She (Ms. Cole) discovered that Tiede had some self-help books for sexual abuse victims—which led to the prosecuting attorney's agreement to join in seeking a reduced sentence on the theory that Tiede would likely have been prosecuted only for second-degree murder if more had been known about his past.’