Seven judges not enough to save man from execution

In an 8-7 split decision, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Cincinnati, ruled that Paul Gregory House should be executed for killing his neighbour, Carolyn Muncey, in 1985, reports The New York Times. Eight judges said House should be executed. Six said he was not guilty and should be freed. One judge said House deserved a new trial. While closely divided Appeals Court decisions are common, judges tend to differ on questions of law, and the Appeals Court decision, which turned on sharply divergent interpretations of the same evidence where a man\'s life was at stake, was quite unusual, said legal experts. The evidence given pointed to two suspects – House and Muncey’s husband. ‘This is unprecedented,’ said Eric Freedman, a law professor at Hofstra University. ‘A case in which six judges find that the defendant didn\'t do the crime is more than just a legal curiosity. In any rational legal universe, there is now at least reasonable doubt about the defendant\'s guilt.’ Full report in The New York Times