WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court will here an appeal by a Tennessee death row inmate who wants a new trial because DNA testing has discredited evidence.
Paul Gregory House was convicted and sentenced to death in 1986 for the murder of Caroline Muncey, a neighbor in the tiny hamlet of Luttrell. House, who had been paroled after serving a sentence for rape in Utah, had moved to Luttrell to be near his mother.
House argues that he is entitled to a new trial because prosecutors argued that substances found on Muncey's clothes were his body fluids, the Washington Post reported. DNA testing later found that Muncey's husband -- who was at one point a suspect in the case -- was the source.
The court has never ruled that punishing an innocent person is unconstitutional, and appeals are based on whether a trial was fair. Oral arguments are scheduled for Wednesday.
