Woman wrongly convicted in son's death will be compensated

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A woman who spent 17 years in prison for a fire that killed her 3-year-old son will be compensated by Indiana for a wrongful conviction.

Kristine Bunch was declared eligible Thursday by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute's Board of Trustees. It wasn't immediately known how much she will receive, although the wrongly convicted are eligible for $50,000 for every year in prison, under state law.

There was 'œclear and convincing evidence'ť that Bunch was innocent, said Jackson County Judge AmyMarie Travis, one of the board members.

'œI won't ever get my day in court, but I got to hear it from these people here,'œ Bunch told the Indianapolis Star. 'œSo that closes a chapter and gives me a different outlook on things because I feel like it's just been a black cloud that I've carried around.'ť

She said she was going home 'œto play with my puppies.'ť

The Indiana Court of Appeals overturned Bunch's conviction in 2012 after lawyers argued that arson evidence from the 1995 fire was wrong and key documents had been withheld from the defense before trial.

Prosecutors in Decatur County declined to put Bunch through a second trial.