A Federal Judge has set a deadline of June 17th for the state to retry death row inmate Paul House or set him free.
The Supreme Court found that no reasonable juror would have convicted him in light of DNA evidence developed later. A recent appeals court panel blasted the Union Co. DA for prosecutorial misconduct.
Seems to me like the Union Co. DA needs to quit being stubborn, admit the mistake, and move on.
"The blatant prosecutorial misconduct in this case shows two things," Gilbert S. Merritt, the presiding judge on the panel, said in an interview after the ruling.
"First, the local district attorney in East Tennessee should never have prosecuted House in the first place, but certainly should have released him more than 10 years ago once he received the exculpatory DNA evidence.
"Second, the local district attorneys, rather than the Attorney General or the Governor, exercise almost complete control over the system of criminal justice in Tennessee.
"They are frequently mistaken and frequently abuse their power," Merritt said.
