Billy Wayne Julian

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Charge:	Arson
Sentence:	15 years
Years Imprisoned:	2
Year Crime:	2001
Year Convicted:	2003
Year Cleared:	2010
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Indiana
County or Region of Crime:	Madison
City of Crime:	Frankton
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Billy Wayne Julian was wrongly convicted on March 14, 2003 of arson, burglary, and theft in the setting of a fire at Frankton High School in Frankton, Indiana on March 11, 2001 that caused $1.7 million in damage. Julian was charged in April 2001. After Julian's conviction by a jury he was sentenced to a total of 15 years in prison. Billy Julian appealed, and on June 29, 2004 his conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Indiana Court of Appeals. In 2005 Julian filed a post-conviction appeal based on the violation of his right to pre-trial disclose of favorable evidence by the prosecution's failure to disclose that its key eyewitness, Jeffrey Scott Brooks was on home detention on March 11, 2001, and thus could not have been at the school and could not have seen what he testified about at Julian’s trial. On May 5, 2006 Julian's petition was granted and a new trial was ordered. Julian was released on bond pending the outcome of the Madison County DA's appeal. On May 31, 2007 the Indiana Court of Appeal affirmed the order for Julian's new trial. The retrial was scheduled for May 2008, but after being rescheduled several times it was set for November 2009, but it didn't occur then either. In July 2010 the Madison County DA's motion to dismiss the charges against Julian was granted in the interests of justice. In November 2011 Julian filed a federal civil rights lawsuit that named the Town of Frankton, several Frankton police officers, and the Madison County Sheriff with violations of Julian's federal constitutional rights by his malicious prosecution. The U.S. District Court judge granted the defendant's motion to dismiss the complaint. Julian appealed, and on October 21, 2013 the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated Julian's complaint. In September 2015 a settlement of the lawsuit was announced, with Julian receiving $3 million. After Julian's release in 2006 one of the jurors stated during an interview that he still thought Julian was guilty, but he was glad he was released because his 15 year sentence was too severe."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	In July 2010 the Madison County DA's motion to dismiss the charges against Julian was granted in the interests of justice.
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:	"$3 mil. (Town of Frankton and Madison County Sheriff's Dept., Sept. 2015)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	21
Age When Released:	24
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Julian starting over after $3M settlement, By Rebecca R. Bibbs (Staff), The Herald Bulletin, September 30, 2015"
Information Location 1:	http://www.heraldbulletin.com/news/local_news/julian-starting-over-after-m-settlement/article_a133e275-1e33-583e-bf24-0b86c3fb500a.html
Information Source 2:	"State of Indiana v. Billy Wayne Julian, No. 48A05-0608-PC-445 (IN. Ct. of Appeals, 5-31-2007) (Affirming grant of new trial.)"
Information Location 2:	http://www.ai.org/judiciary/opinions/pdf/05310703msm.pdf
Information Source 3:	"Billy Julian v. Sam Hanna, et al., No. 13-1203 (7th Cir. 10-21-2013) (Reversing U.S. District Court's order dismissing complaint.)"
Information Location 3:	http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2013/D10-21/C:13-1203:J:Posner:aut:T:fnOp:N:1226864:S:0
Information Source 4:	"Man convicted in Frankton arson case set free, By Sandra Chapman (Eyewitness News reporter), WTHR-TV Channel 13 (Indianapolis, IN)"
Information Location 4:	http://www.wthr.com/story/4881968/man-convicted-in-frankton-arson-case-set-free
Information Source 5:
Information Location 5:
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Billy Wayne Julian

Charge:

Arson

Sentence:

15 years

Years Imprisoned:

2

Year Crime:

2001

Year Convicted:

2003

Year Cleared:

2010

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Indiana

County or Region of Crime:

Madison

City of Crime:

Frankton

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

In July 2010 the Madison County DA's motion to dismiss the charges against Julian was granted in the interests of justice.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

"$3 mil. (Town of Frankton and Madison County Sheriff's Dept., Sept. 2015)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

21

Age When Released:

24

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Julian starting over after $3M settlement, By Rebecca R. Bibbs (Staff), The Herald Bulletin, September 30, 2015"

Information Location 1:

http://www.heraldbulletin.com/news/local_news/julian-starting-over-after-m-settlement/article_a133e275-1e33-583e-bf24-0b86c3fb500a.html

Information Source 2:

"State of Indiana v. Billy Wayne Julian, No. 48A05-0608-PC-445 (IN. Ct. of Appeals, 5-31-2007) (Affirming grant of new trial.)"

Information Location 2:

http://www.ai.org/judiciary/opinions/pdf/05310703msm.pdf

Information Source 3:

"Billy Julian v. Sam Hanna, et al., No. 13-1203 (7th Cir. 10-21-2013) (Reversing U.S. District Court's order dismissing complaint.)"

Information Location 3:

http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2013/D10-21/C:13-1203:J:Posner:aut:T:fnOp:N:1226864:S:0

Information Source 4:

"Man convicted in Frankton arson case set free, By Sandra Chapman (Eyewitness News reporter), WTHR-TV Channel 13 (Indianapolis, IN)"

Information Location 4:

http://www.wthr.com/story/4881968/man-convicted-in-frankton-arson-case-set-free

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

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