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Wrongful Convictions Center To Argue For Woman In Son's Death

INDIANAPOLIS (CBS) -- Attorneys working with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University will argue Wednesday before an Indiana appeals court, on behalf of a woman now serving 60-year sentence.

Kristine Bunch has spent 15 years in prison so far, after being convicted of murder and arson in Decatur County, Ind., in 1996. A jury concluded that at the age of 21, she had set the fire that killed her 3-year-old son, Anthony Maxwell Bunch.

Prosecutors said she poured kerosene or another fuel around her son's bedroom and the living room of their trailer home and torched it on June 30, 1995, according to the Greensburg Daily News.

But the Center on Wrongful Convictions says science discovered since the crime shows an accelerant such as kerosene could not have been used and other possible causes were ignored. The center says evidence shows the fire was accidental, rather than intentional.

The Greensburg Daily News says a probable cause affidavit indicated an accelerant was, in fact, used in the fire, and a gasoline can was found about three feet away from the front door of the trailer.

(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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