MAYNARDVILLE, Tenn. – Prosecutors have dropped charges against a former Tennessee death row inmate whose conviction in the death of a woman killed in Union County 23 years ago was based on evidence questioned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood accepted a request from District Attorney Paul Phillips to drop the murder charge against Paul House after a brief hearing on Tuesday.
House, who spent 22 years on death row, was scheduled to be retried in June in the death of Carolyn Muncey.
In their petition, prosecutors said they still believe House was involved in the crime, but new evidence raises doubts that he acted alone and clouds what his role was.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox