Paul House granted relief in Tennessee

Paul House granted relief in Tennessee

[UPDATE] The opinion in House v. Bell is now available.

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In one of the nation’s highest profile capital cases relief has been granted TCASK is reporting. I’ll have the opinion shortly:

Judge Harold Mattice ruled just hours ago that Paul House will be granted a conditional write of habeas corpus resulting in the VACATION OF HIS CONVICTION AND SENTENCE unless the state commences a new trial against him within 180 days after the judgment become final. At this point, the state’s intentions are unclear, but our hope is that resources and time will not be wasted on a retrial when there is no real evidence remaining against House.

This news has been over 20 years in the making and means that Paul House is on his way to becoming the 127^th exoneree nationwide and the second in Tennessee in the last month. Needless to say, this is the best holiday news any of us could have received. All of the prayers, actions, letters, and events made this moment possible for Paul House and his mother, Joyce.