ARCADIA, Fla. - Twenty-two years in prison for killing his seven kids. The man's conviction was overturned. Does this mean he's innocent? It is a million dollar fight over what innocent really means.

41-years ago in Arcadia, seven siblings were poisoned. They were murdered. Their father, James Joseph Richardson, was thrown in jail for the heinous crime.

"James Richardson is in fact innocent," Robert Barrar tells Call For Action. Barrar is Richardson's lawyer. For 22-years Richardson sat in prison for killing his own kids. Then in 1989 Richardson's conviction was thrown-out. He is a free man.

But, that is not the end of this story. In fact, it is just the beginning.

A new law, less than a year old, allows people convicted of crimes they did not commit to get money from the state. Florida is refusing to pay. James Joseph Richardson left prison and Florida behind when he was set free.

Today in Arcadia, seven tiny tombstones are the only peaceful memory of what happened 41-years-ago. That's when seven children were poisoned with a toxic pesticide in their lunches.

Their father appeared on the front pages of the newspapers, he was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to die. "I can not imagine anything worse than being placed on death row for killing your children - when you in fact did not do so," say Barrar. He explains the pain and torture his client went through for more than two decades, "nothing could be worse."

A 1972 Supreme Court decision banning the death penalty saved Richardson's life. His new sentence was spending the rest of his life in prison. Seventeen years later new evidence turns up, stolen by a concerned man in Arcadia, Remus Griffin.

The new evidence is sent to Florida Governor Bob Martinez. The evidence shows a quick investigation and questionable court testimony.

So, the Governor Martinez signs an executive order and moves the case from DeSoto County to Miami-Dade County for review. The reviewer is Janet Reno. She was then the Miami-Dade State Attorney. Reno is the very same person that would go on to become United States Attorney General. Barrar explains her reaction to the case, "Miss Reno and her office decided to drop all charges against Mister Richardson, because they realized he is innocent.

Richardson walks out of jail broke and broken. Many people in his old town and still believing he's a murderer seven times over. As a result, he leaves for a fresh start in Kansas.

The orange picker with 20-plus years in prison is scraping by living with a friend. Now, with Florida's new law and the possibility of $50,000 for every year he spent in prison. Barrar says there could be something more, "I think in a way it will give him closure."

The law appears to be simple. If you are innocent of the crime you went to jail for, and have not committed any other felonies, all you have to do is apply for the money.

But, in DeSoto county, all these years later, State Attorney Earl Moreland is challenging Richardson's claim in court. "I can't tell you what the State Attorney's Office and Mister Moreland are going to do," says Barrar.

The Governor sent the case to Miami-Dade County which threw the conviction out. State Attorney Moreland says that's not the same as proving Richardson is innocent, which the law requires to write that $1,100,000 check.

Moreland's Chief Assistant State Attorney e-mailed Call For Action, saying it would be inappropriate to comment on a case headed to court. But his legal filing claims the case was not retried because the evidence in the original case was gone, not because James Richardson was not guilty.

The bottom line in this story is, how do you prove innocence? The answer is crucial, because this is the first case under the new law. That means it will likely be the precedent for who does and doesn't get paid for being wrongfully convicted.