Death Penalty Case Summary

In 1985 in Luttrell, Tennessee, Paul Gregory House was sentenced to death for the murder of Carolyn Muncey. A family friend reported that they have seen House near the Muncey house before Muncey’s body was found. House agreed to be interviewed in the local jail but he made false statements to the police. House was in the previous running with the law in Utah. “House was on Parole following a 5-year sentence for sexual assault in that state” (Neubauer & Fradella, 2014). House was found guilty in union county, Tennessee on circumstantial evidence. Since House was found guilty he was eligible for death (capital punishment) . house then filed a pro se petition claiming he had ineffective counsel. He attempted at a second post-conviction appeal but the Tennessee Supreme court held. So house filed for a habeas corpus relief. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court of Appeals reviewed the case due to new DNA evidence that could prove the innocence of House. The Court of Appeals attempted to transfer the case to the Tennessee Supreme Court but they denied a new trial. Then the Tennessee Supreme court attempted to send it back to the
The House case is atypical because it is a death penalty case; ordinary felonies rarely involve this many courts or this many judges, Nonetheless, it begins to illustrate the complexity of the court system in the United States” (Neubauer & Fradella, 2014). Also, “ House v. Bell (2006). The official name of the case we have been following is atypical for a couple of reasons. For one, a trial was held; most defendants plead guilty rather than go to trial. The House case is also atypical because it was successfully appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court; only about 35 criminal cases, a year are heard by the nation’s highest court. But the fact that it was atypical brings info focus all the steps of the process” (Neubauer & Fradella,