Stacey Grosh
stacey.grosh@heraldbulletin.com
The Indiana Court of Appeals agreed Thursday with a local court ruling that evidence was suppressed in Billy Julian’s trial for the 2001 Frankton High School fire.
The fire caused $1.7 million in damage and sent Julian to prison for two years.
“This is another piece of paperwork in my favor that shows I had nothing to do with the fire,” Julian said from his Frankton home after learning about the ruling. “I am excited, but more than anything, I want this to end.”
Julian, who works privately as a tattoo artist, says he has struggled to find employment since his release from prison last year.
“If they would just dismiss my record, take it off the (Department of Correction) Web site, I could move on with my life. When will that happen? When will it ever happen?”
Julian was released from prison last year after it was discovered that a witness lied about seeing him at the school the night of the fire. Julian was supposed to serve 18 years in prison.
The fire occurred March 11, 2001, when three or more people broke into the school. They used an oxyacetylene torch from the industrial arts classroom to try and open a safe in the main office. Within the safe were prescription drugs — including Ritalin — and money.
The torch caused steel to drip off the safe and catch the carpet on fire. The individuals fled empty-handed.
In stepped Jeffrey “Scott” Brooks.
Brooks told police that he sold marijuana to Julian in the parking lot of the school a short time before the fire started. He testified to this during Julian’s trial in 2003.
Julian was convicted of arson, burglary and attempted theft. In 2005, Julian filed for post-conviction relief, or a reduction in his sentence. He said that the Madison County Prosecutor’s Office relied on perjured testimony and failed to reveal evidence during the trial. Authorities knew that Brooks had been on in-home detention the night of the fire and, according to the Madison County Probation Department, Brooks never left his home that night. On four occasions, Julian’s attorney had filed requests for Brooks’ criminal history. It was finally supplied after a search of the Madison County Sheriff’s Department database. No reference to Brooks being on in-home detention was noted, although it was a part of city records.
“The State’s failure to provide a complete criminal history amounts to suppression of this information,” according to the ruling. The prosecutor’s office has a “duty to disclose evidence favorable to a criminal defendant.”
In May 2006, Circuit Court Judge Fredrick Spencer granted Julian’s post-conviction relief request after an Elwood Probation Department employee testified that its records indicated Brooks was home the night of the fire.
Julian is one of three Madison County residents prosecuted in the crime. He was the only one convicted.
Last year, the prosecutor’s office filed arson, burglary and attempted theft charges against Brooks for the fire. He is set for trial at 9 a.m. Aug. 16 in Superior Court 3.
----
Witness in the Frankton High School fire case, Jeffrey “Scott” Brooks, has told police numerous stories about what happened that night in March 2001. His testimony led to Billy Julian’s conviction in the fire. Here is a summary of what Brooks has told police over the years:
* Summer of 2001: Brooks said he in was in a pool hall and heard Julian and Josh Rider (who was later found not guilty of the crime) talking about their involvement in the fire.
* August 2002: Brooks gave a court deposition and stated that Julian did not implicate himself at the pool hall but that Rider did.
* February 2003: Brooks gave a second deposition. He said the conversation between Julian and Rider did not take place at the pool hall but elsewhere. He said he sold Julian and Rider marijuana in the school parking lot.
* March 2003: During Julian’s trial, Brooks testified to that account.
* May 2003: Brooks told police that he had been inside the school the night of the fire and tried to open the safe.
* February 2004: During Rider’s trial, Brooks said all of his previous statements were lies and that he only talked to police to try to get a deal on his own pending criminal cases.
Source: Madison County court documents in the Billy Julian arson, burglary and attempted theft case.
