House vs. Bell - Not a Typical Criminal Case
In the case of House v. Bell, Paul Gregory House was arrested and charged with the murder of Carolyn Muncey. He was found guilty of murder with aggravating factors (attempt to commit rape) and was sentenced to the death penalty. This is NOT a typical criminal case. It was so extraordinary in the sense that a man was not only convicted of murder but sentenced to death as well on only circumstantial evidence.
The verdict, which found Paul House to be guilty of murder and sentenced to death was a product of discrimination, a violation of constitutional rights, and a contradiction of the main functions of the U.S. court system. The courts are compelled to practice the presumption of innocence. However, the impression that we get is that he was presumed guilty from the very start. The circumstantial evidence linking House to the murder of Carolyn Muncey may very well have been no different than the circumstantial evidence linking "witness" Billy Ray Hensley to the murder or any other neighbor within the proximity of the crime scene. The circumstantial evidence became so much stronger because House was a previous offender of the law and a new comer to the neighborhood. No one had grown up with him, and not many were able to testify to his character.
Mrs. Muncey disappeared from her home on the night of July 13 and was found bludgeoned to death the next afternoon on July 14, 1985. Her body was found in the underbrush in a creek bank on the side of Ridgecrest Road in Luttrell, Tennessee. She was in her nightgown , housecoat and underclothing. Her body was badly bruised, indicating that she was is a struggle and there were also some spots of semen found on her nightgown and undergarments. The cause of death was determined to be a blow to the left of her forehead and it appeared that she was strangled as well. Her husband was not home at the time of her disappearance.
Witnesses claim to have seen Paul House in the vicinity on the day her body was
The verdict, which found Paul House to be guilty of murder and sentenced to death was a product of discrimination, a violation of constitutional rights, and a contradiction of the main functions of the U.S. court system. The courts are compelled to practice the presumption of innocence. However, the impression that we get is that he was presumed guilty from the very start. The circumstantial evidence linking House to the murder of Carolyn Muncey may very well have been no different than the circumstantial evidence linking "witness" Billy Ray Hensley to the murder or any other neighbor within the proximity of the crime scene. The circumstantial evidence became so much stronger because House was a previous offender of the law and a new comer to the neighborhood. No one had grown up with him, and not many were able to testify to his character.
Mrs. Muncey disappeared from her home on the night of July 13 and was found bludgeoned to death the next afternoon on July 14, 1985. Her body was found in the underbrush in a creek bank on the side of Ridgecrest Road in Luttrell, Tennessee. She was in her nightgown , housecoat and underclothing. Her body was badly bruised, indicating that she was is a struggle and there were also some spots of semen found on her nightgown and undergarments. The cause of death was determined to be a blow to the left of her forehead and it appeared that she was strangled as well. Her husband was not home at the time of her disappearance.
Witnesses claim to have seen Paul House in the vicinity on the day her body was