Tenn. drops charges against death row inmate Paul House

Source: Baltimore Sun

Conviction in death of woman 23 years ago was based on evidence questioned by Supreme Court

The Associated Press
9:51 AM EDT, May 12, 2009

MAYNARDVILLE, Tenn. - Prosecutors have dropped charges against a former Tennessee death row inmate whose conviction in the death of a woman killed in Union County 23 years ago was based on evidence questioned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood accepted a request from District Attorney Paul Phillips to drop the murder charge against Paul House after a brief hearing on Tuesday.

House, who spent 22 years on death row, was scheduled to be retried in June in the death of Carolyn Muncey.

In their petition, prosecutors said they still believe House was involved in the crime, but new evidence raises doubts that he acted alone and clouds what his role was.


Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-paul-house-death-row-0512,0,994773.story

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Wikipedia House v Bell

House v. Bell, 547 U.S. 518 (2006), was a United States Supreme Court case challenging the permissibility of new DNA forensic evidence that becomes available post-conviction, in capital punishment appeals when those claims have defaulted pursuant to state law. The Court found that admitting new DNA evidence was in line with a 1995 case, Schlup v. Delo which allows cases to be reopened in light of new evidence.

Background and Procedural History

In 1985, Carolyn Muncey was bludgeoned to death in Luttrell, Tennessee, near Knoxville. Her body was found on an embankment the following day. Paul Gregory House, who was a friend of the Munceys, was charged with the murder. House was on parole and had a prior aggravated sexual assault conviction in Utah <1> Based on circumstantial evidence that House was spotted near the embankment, that blood consistent with that of the victim was found on House's jeans, and that semen consistent with House's was found on the victim's nightgown and underwear, House was found guilty at trial with aggravating factors that qualified him for capital punishment.

The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed House's conviction and sentence, describing the evidence against House as "circumstantial" but "quite strong." Later, in a state trial court, House filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial and objecting to certain jury instructions. At a hearing before the same judge who conducted the trial, the court dismissed the petition, deeming House's trial counsel adequate and overruling House's other objections. On appeal House's attorney renewed only the jury-instructions argument and the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed, and both the Tennessee Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the United States denied review.

House filed a second post-conviction petition in state court reasserting his ineffective-assistance claim. After extensive litigation regarding whether House's claims were procedurally defaulted, the Tennessee Supreme Court held that House's claims were barred under a state statute providing that claims not raised in prior post-conviction proceedings are presumptively waived.

House next sought federal habeas corpus relief, asserting numerous claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and prosecutorial misconduct.

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_v._Bell

hangings at dawn!

You would think if someone is getting out of jail, from death row, after 23 years because of new evidence this would be a huge story. You would think there would be more information.

What new evidence?

Why does the prosecution still think he was involved?

What role do they still think he played in the murder? And if they believe he was involved why aren't they pursuing a new trial?

How was the new evidence discovered?

Is this another success of The Innocence Project, or is this unrelated to the work they do?

A little later I'll go see if Google turns up any better news sources for more information. This really seems like there should be more information here.

This was all I could find thru a google news search which is even more skimpier.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jjHS8S3jIndU2oI6WHB_KqB-pvwAD984NPEO0

Thank you for searching. :)

Should have more then enough information.

he's gone through hell to be taken seriously. If sure as hell looks like he got railroaded. :(

Think this can't happen to you? Think again.

Circumstances
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Tennessee
White Judge
Mostly White, If Not All White, Jury
Black Defendant

Verdict
-------
Guilty

By Bill Mears
CNN Supreme Court Producer


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A former death row inmate in Tennessee has been cleared of murder, three years after the Supreme Court raised repeated questions about his conviction.

State prosecutors on Tuesday asked a judge to drop all charges against Paul House, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to die in 1986. Special Judge Jon Blackwood accepted the request.

House had been scheduled to be executed next month for the 1985 murder of Carolyn Muncey. He had been on death row for 22 years but was released on bail last year. He has multiple sclerosis and must use a wheelchair.

The high court ruled in June 2006 that House was entitled to a new hearing.

"Although the issue is closed, we conclude that this is the rare case where -- had the jury heard all the conflicting testimony -- it is more likely than not that no reasonable juror viewing the record as a whole would lack reasonable doubt," wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy for the 5-3 majority.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/12/death.row.exoneration/index.html