News Archive

Professor Watson talked about Indiana's new law that will compensate the wrongfully convicted for a story that appeared in the South Bend Tribune. The news item also features Wrongful Conviction Clinic client Kristine Bunch.

“This bill proves Indiana is not cold-hearted when we’ve done something we recognize to be an error,” Professor Watson said in the piece.

A story on the new law and the work of IU McKinney alumni who helped make it happen appears on the law school's website.

Bunch spent 17 years in prison for her conviction on charges she set fire to her Decatur County home, killing her 3-year-old son, Anthony, in the summer of 1995. She was released from prison in 2012 after the Center on Wrongful Convictions in Chicago, and Professor Watson at IU McKinney took on Bunch's case. It was determined that the evidence used to convict her had been fabricated.

The new law, which takes effect November 1, will provide $50,000 for each year the individual was wrongfully incarcerated, as well as make post-incarceration services like job training and education available. Previously, programs available to the newly released were unavailable to the wrongfully convicted. Indiana's Criminal Justice Institute will administer the funds. Those who have been wrongfully convicted may either apply to the fund for compensation, or file a civil suit against the state, but not both.

Professor Watson believes there are other ways the justice system could improve. She wants to add an evidence preservation law that would require government agencies to retain evidence that may contain biological material. That way, the evidence can be tested for perpetrator DNA or the absence of a defendant’s DNA. But she is pleased with the progress the state has made with the wrongful conviction compensation law.

"I'm proud of Indiana. I’m proud to say Indiana got it done." Professor Watson said. "The exonerated prisoners gain strength knowing the legislature cares.”