Inmate free after 20 years on death row, thanks to DNA test

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A 46-year old inmate who languished on death row for more than 20 years was freed Wednesday after DNA tests called into question his murder conviction.

Paul Gregory House was sentenced to death in 1986 for the rape and murder of Carolyne Muncey, a housewife and mother in the southern state of Tennessee.

DNA testing was not available at the time of the crime, but genetic tests performed since his conviction failed to determine conclusively that House was the perpetrator of the crime.

Based on those inconclusive DNA tests, the US Supreme Court in 2006 ruled that a jury could find "reasonable doubt" in the case -- a burden of proof lower than the legal standard to establish guilt in a murder case.

News reports said there also have...