[mom23angels]

I always wondered if you went to jail would they pay for your MS therapies and medical needs, but if I guess you're on death row then whats the point!!

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CROSSVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- A federal judge has given Tennessee until June 17 to retry or free a death row inmate who the U.S. Supreme Court said two years ago likely isn't guilty.


Paul House sits on death row despite a ruling that says evidence raises reasonable doubt about his guilt.

Paul House has been in limbo while a prosecutor battles efforts to have him retried. Prosecutors have said House, who has multiple sclerosis, is too dangerous to be released.

Federal judges have done as the high court ordered and reviewed his murder case. They concluded new evidence raises reasonable doubt about the 46-year-old's guilt.

House entered state prison in February 1986 with a death sentence for the 1985 slaying of Carolyn Muncey. The young mother of two's badly beaten body was found near her home in eastern Tennessee. But House adamantly maintains he did not kill her.

The Supreme Court concluded in June 2006 that reasonable jurors wouldn't have convicted House if they had seen DNA tests.

The Supreme Court has said, 'You just got the wrong person.' You would think ... that there would be some respect for that situation," said U.S. Circuit Judge Gilbert S. Merritt, who has heard portions of House's case and believes he isn't guilty of murder.

District Attorney Paul Phillips said he plans to retry House with old evidence from the first trial and some new evidence he wouldn't describe. He promises he has "proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. House is guilty or we would not be re-prosecuting him."

For House's mother, it's hard not to think the state is delaying on purpose.

"What I really think, and I'm not the only one, is they just want him to linger in there until he dies. Then it will all go away, they think," Joyce House said recently at her white ranch-style home in Crossville, a town of about 10,000 some 100 miles east of Nashville.

Phillips denied prosecutors are intentionally putting off the case and noted the inmate's doctor testified House could live for decades with his illness.

"They just don't want to admit they made a mistake," Joyce House said. "They're not the only state that's ever made a mistake."

In a 5-3 decision, the Supreme Court concluded in June 2006 that reasonable jurors wouldn't have convicted House if they had seen what DNA tests revealed in the late 1990s.

Semen collected from Muncey's nightgown and panties belonged to her husband, undercutting the premise that House murdered her during a sexual assault. The court also said House's lawyers offered new witnesses who provided "substantial evidence pointing to a different suspect."

The justices were referring to the victim's husband and House's former friend, Hubert Muncey. Besides the DNA testing on the semen, five witnesses came forward many years after the trial and gave testimony implicating Hubert Muncey.

The Associated Press tried several times to reach Hubert Muncey by phone at his home in Maynardville, Tennessee. He remarried 13 years ago and his wife, Joann, said her husband has changed, is "into church now" and "not for anyone being put to death." She said Hubert Muncey is not upset by House's possible release but doesn't want him "bothering" their family.

In December, Mattice ordered the state to retry House within 180 days or release him. The state appealed, a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals -- including Merritt -- affirmed Mattice and the state finally dropped its challenges.

Phillips said he intends to meet the new deadline for a retrial by early November, although he hasn't decided whether to seek the death penalty again.

In a recent prison interview, House said he's lost all faith in the criminal justice system. Embittered and cynical, he looks older than he is. He can't walk or stand and has trouble speaking because of the multiple sclerosis, an incurable nervous system disorder that he contracted 10 years ago.

"It's taken me all these years to prove that I didn't do it. And I don't have another 20 years to invest," House said. "I didn't do the crime, but I've done the time."

Joyce House said her son wants two things when he gets out of prison: his favorite dish, chili verde, and a bedroom with windows so he can enjoy something he's missed for close to half his life -- a view.

In her home, two bedroom windows look west over a farm filled with hogs, turkeys and cows and rolling green hills. House's mother has been preparing that room for him and taking medical classes to help care for him.

"I always thought he'd come home eventually," Joyce House said. "I didn't think it would take this long though. Whenever you're innocent, eventually the justice system works.

Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/05/28/....ap/index.html

Monique

[Noidy]

That's ridiculous. He can't walk or stand and can barely speak?? How is he too dangerous? Does the judge think he's gonna mass murder people by running over them with a scooter??

[mom23angels]

Originally Posted by Noidy

That's ridiculous. He can't walk or stand and can barely speak?? How is he too dangerous? Does the judge think he's gonna mass murder people by running over them with a scooter??

Thats what upsets me so much about MS, sometimes people cannot see the havoc going on inside our bodies. Most of my symptoms are invisible but that doesn't mean I'm not struggling everyday with spasms, and pain, and numbness, and lack of cognition. I don't know if this man is innocent or guilty but could they give him house arrest or something so he doesn't medically go downhill anymore than he has..

[BaxterTheBunny]

If he's innocent this is a real tragedy.

[CayoKay]

Originally Posted by mom23angels

In a recent prison interview, House said he's lost all faith in the criminal justice system. Embittered and cynical, he looks older than he is. He can't walk or stand and has trouble speaking because of the multiple sclerosis, an incurable nervous system disorder that he contracted 10 years ago.

if anyone noticed, Associated Press has CHANGED the article, removing the word "contracted"

it makes it sound like it's a disease that was somehow "caught" in prison.

yesterday, I wrote AP and CNN a nice rant, saying that MS isn't "contracted" by adults, and especially not in the fashion they've implied.

I told them that experts think it's probably due to a virus exposure in childhood (one of the HHVs) in combination with living in an area with high sanitation, a cool or cold climate, PLUS a genetic susceptibility...

and I said it was a SIMPLE matter for their journalist to use Google, or contact the MS Society for accurate information, otherwise, it was misleading reportage.

and next time I clicked on the article, that whole sentence was disappeared !!

oh, and Paul House should be RELEASED from Death Row immediately.

a JUDGE (U.S. Circuit Judge Gilbert S. Merritt) has said he believes Paul is NOT GUILTY, for heaven's sakes !!

[Noidy]

I personally blame chemical exposure for my ms sometimes, and have read brittish reports claiming ms was a post-viral condition. I've also seen a person online that was in the military, and the military said her ms was "combat related". Perhaps they were linking the stress of combat to her initial flair, but it makes me wonder sometimes. I've seen lots of odd connections with ms though. On one chat, I noticed many with Illinois ties. I was born in illinois, and several people I spoke to had either lived there once, or currently lived there. Now Illinois is a very big state..perhaps it's my own paranoia. Sometimes I just wish i had something to blame the ms on. I look every day for possible causes, and have found more misleading info and quacks on the internet than ever.

Contracted? ok.. maybe it was a bad choice of words. Perhaps the editor was a moron and knew nothing of ms. Maybe they meant "came down with" and chose a bad word to say it.. either way, it makes me wonder.

[Natalie8]

I was just visiting a friend in Nashvillle, TN who does anti-death penalty activism. She just told me about this story as she has been involved in it with her group. The DNA doesn't seem to match -- Supreme Court rules in this guy's favor. Obviously he is having serious medical problems. My friend didn't know if he was receiving treatment in prison -- would the gov. pay for expensive MS meds?

I can't believe the prosecutor would say he "is too dangerous to be released." Give me a %&#^$ break!!

CayoKay, thank you SO much for writing AP and pointing out that the use of the phrase "contracting MS" is just plain wrong.

[mom23angels]

Well..
Here is the update of this case. I think they are going to retry the guy with MS and they will not seek the death penalty this time. He can be released off death row to stay with his mother, but he'll need 500K for that.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/06/....ap/index.html

Monique

[Dejibo]

Sad but true.

I worked for a looooong time as a nurse/medic in the prison system. I would see grown men come in for minor stuff, and refuse to be bonded, and plead guilty. On medical screening (my job) they would admit to needing open heart surgery, and couldnt afford it. Kidney transplant, and couldnt afford it. One old man diabetic had such a bad gangrenous toe it was awful! he said he sat down at a local restaurant, ate a beautiful meal, and refused to pay. Sat and waited for the cops to come get him. He needs surgery on his foot and he wouldnt take that money out of his household away from his sick wife. He knew the state would lock him up for a month or so, but he could spend that time recouperating from his operation. I saw sad stories like that all the time.