Homicide defendant in legal limbo

NASHVILLE, June 18 (UPI) -- A Tennessee man whose 1985 murder conviction was overturned by federal courts remains in legal limbo as state authorities seek a second trial.

Paul House, 46, spent 22 years on Tennessee's death row until new DNA evidence and a 2006 U.S. Supreme Court ruling and subsequent federal district court order called for his release unless the state acted speedily to retry him. Now the state is seeking to do that despite his attorney's arguments that the deadline has passed and that the trial judge may have a conflict of interest, The Nashville Tennessean reported Wednesday.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals took the issue under advisement after an emergency hearing Tuesday while House, who has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair waits at a Nashville facility.

The federal court is being asked to determine whether the state complied with a federal judge's Dec. 20 order to retry House within 180 days. Another issue is whether Criminal Court Judge Shayne Sexton has a conflict of interest, having once served as a prosecutor for District Attorney General Paul Phillips, who is now prosecuting the case.