CASE SYNOPSIS: Petitioner Paul Gregory House was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Carolyn Muncey that occurred on July 13th, 1985 in Union County, Tennessee. The victim’s body, only wearing a nightgown, was discovered within one hundred yards of her home on the day following the homicide. Her body exhibited evidence of assault and the local coroner ruled the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head. It was estimated by the coroner that she died between 9pm and 11pm on Saturday the 13th of July. Witnesses testified against the petitioner and stated that they saw him emerge from the area near the body wiping his hands with a dark rag and displaying suspicious behavior. Following the encounter with the defendant the witnesses discovered the body and notified the sheriffs office. The defendant was unable to provide a legitimate alibi as to his whereabouts on the evening of the murder and was detained. DNA testing was conducted on the defendants clothing where blood, consistent with the victims was found. In addition, semen taken from the victim’s nightgown was said to be of the same general type as the defendant. House was convicted of …show more content…
The new evidence consisted of a confession from the victim’s husband regarding his involvement in the crime, and DNA proof that the semen discovered on the victim’s nightgown belonged not to House, but the victim’s husband. The petition was denied due to a failure by the defendant to prove that “more likely than not that no reasonable juror would have convicted him in the light of the new evidence”, which was the standard set forth in Schlup v. Delo. Upon review the Supreme Court found, that in the light of the new information, the defendant provided a sufficient amount of evidence for his case to be reheard and habeas corpus was