Prosecutor may drop charges in Paul House case

A Tennessee prosecutor told the Associated Press yesterday that further DNA testing could persuade his office to drop charges against Paul House, who spent more than two decades on Tennessee’s death row before he was

released on bond last week

– for a murder he has always said he didn’t commit. District Attorney William Paul Phillips said he will seek DNA testing of a hair found in the victim’s hand.

If it's not his (House's) and not hers and (belongs to) some third party, then we would have to evaluate that along with all the other evidence, and we would determine if that raised a reasonable doubt," Phillips told the AP. "If at any time that (hair) or any other evidence raised a reasonable doubt, then we would not prosecute."

Read the full story here

. (The Tennessean, 07/10/08)

Mounting evidence in the case – including important DNA tests on evidence from the crime scene – points to House’s innocence. House spent 22 years on death row for the murder before his appeals finally led to his conviction being overturned. In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court heard the case and ruled that “no reasonable juror” would convict House based on the current evidence. Then, last year, a federal judge ordered the state to retry House, who has chronic multiple sclerosis and is unable to bathe and feed himself without help.