Should DNA Results Lead to New Trials???

When Carolyn Muncey's body was found in the woods near her home in rural Union County, Tennesse, it didn't take long before law enforcement found a suspect in her murder. Paul House, who had a prior conviction for aggravated sexual assault in the area, was that suspect. Of course, most people thought that he did the crime, and prosecutors even later told the jury at his murder trial that investigators found his semen on Mrs. Muncey's clothing. House was convicted of murder charges, and sent to death row to await his execution. There was just one problem with this case.....the semen belonged to the victim's husband, whom defense lawyers say is the true murderer. Now, it has been 20 years since his murder conviction, and House's case arrives Wednesday at the U.S. Supreme Court. There, the justices are being asked to decide how federal courts should weigh scientific evidence, such as DNA test results, when considering whether to grant a convict a new appeal, even after all allowable appeals have been exhausted. The Howard vs. Bell case is important, because it marks the first time the justices have agreed to examine a case involving post-conviction appeals based on DNA testing. This technology has proved very efficient and reliable in identifying innocent defendants who have been convicted and imprisoned. But, many say that technology may be not used in many cases, unless of course, the high court fully recognizes the value of science-based evidence, even long after the crime has taken place and all of the defense's appeals have been expired. Peter Neufeld, a co-founder of the Innocence Program stated that, "What we have learned at the Innocence Project is that DNA evidence 10, 20, 30 years later turns out to be much more reliable than eyewitness testimony and more reliable than confessions that are often false." Since 1989, the Innocence Project has used DNA testing to win 172 exonerations, 14 of these exonerations being on death row. It will be very interesting what the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on this decision.

The Innocence Project refers to a number of non-profit legal clinics in the United States. The most well known is based at Yeshiva University. It directly serves only defendants who can conclusively be proven innocent by genetic fingerprinting of evidence done after their convictions. The clinic was founded in 1992 by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld. In addition to services to individual defendants, it performs research and advocacy related to the incidence and causes of wrongful convictions. Almost all of these convictions involved in the program included some form of sexual assualt and approximately 25% involved murder.