"It's been on my heart to express my sincerest sorrow and regret and ask to be forgiven," said Johnson, who is serving life in prison for two other 1985 rapes.

[3][4] On February 6, 2009, a Texas district court judge announced "to a 100 percent moral, factual and legal certainty" that Timothy Cole did not commit the rape.

[9][10] Since the Tim Cole Act became law, Texas has paid $99.8 million in lump-sum payments to at least 93 people who were wrongfully convicted.

Texas law firm Glasheen, Valles & Inderman also worked with Texas Senator John Cornyn to convince the United States Internal Revenue Service that compensation for incarceration stemming from a wrongful conviction should not be treated as taxable income, that instead it should be treated the same as compensation for personal injuries which is not taxable income.

A panel set up to study the causes of wrongful convictions and to devise ways of preventing them is to report to the Texas governor no later than 2011.

However, on January 7, 2010, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott issued an opinion which cleared the way for the governor to pardon Cole.

The Tim Cole Commission will review past exonerations and make recommendations to the Texas Legislature regarding criminal justice reform.

[15] The $250,000, 19-foot (5.8 m) bronze and granite statue, paid for by local attorney Kevin Glasheen, is located at 2500 19 Street, and was unveiled in September 2014.

[16] During the first week of March 2015, the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents approved for Cole an honorary degree in law and social justice.