The U.S. Supreme Court today granted Tennessee death row inmate Paul House permission to pursue a new trial. House was convicted in 1985 of raping and killing Unicoi County resident, Carolyn Muncey.
Since that time DNA evidence exonerated him in the rape of Muncey, though prosecutors point to blood evidence that still connects him to the killing.
In a 5-3 opinion, with Justice Anthony Kennedy writing for the majority, the court said the state was wrong when it claimed that the DNA evidence from the sexual assault was insignificant. Kennedy wrote, “From beginning to end the case is about who committed the crime.” The Justices noted the victim’s husband, Hubert Muncey, has emerged as potential suspect in her death because it was his DNA found on her clothes. The court’s decision does not automatically give House a new trial, but he will now be allowed to bring up procedural missteps, like the DNA evidence, in federal court. David Raybin, a Nashville defense attorney who authored Tennessee’s death penalty statute says before today’s ruling the standard for allowing an inmate to return to court was very strict. Now, there’s a new precedent.
“The significance of this particular case across the United States is that now defendants can open up cases that were thought to have been long since closed by using this case as precedent. That’s really the significance of this decision. It’s whether an inmate can go back to court or not.”
When House was convicted, DNA testing was not used. Forensic officials relied on blood type to determine a connection to a crime. When the Supreme Court heard House’s case in January, it was the first time the justices looked at look at a post-conviction appeal based on DNA evidence.
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