FRANKTON, Ind. (AP) _ The attorney for a man who had a central Indiana school arson conviction overturned says a $3 million lawsuit settlement will let him start a new life.
Billy Julian of Frankton spent about three years in prison after being convicted of starting the March 2001 fire that caused nearly $2 million in damage at Frankton High School. He was released in 2006 after courts ruled a witness lied about seeing Julian at the school and that authorities knew he was at home on electronic monitoring.
Attorney Steven Art tells The Herald Bulletin that insurance companies for the town of Frankton and Madison County agreed to the settlement of Julian's federal lawsuit.
Art says the settlement marks an end to 15 years of being wrongly accused of the crime.
