House v. Bell

House v. Bell
Argued January 11, 2006
Decided June 12, 2006
Full case namePaul Gregory House, Petitioner v. Ricky Bell, Warden
Docket no.04-8990
Citations547 U.S. 518 (more)
126 S. Ct. 2064; 165 L. Ed. 2d 1; 2006 U.S. LEXIS 4674
Case history
Prior311 F.3d 767 (6th Cir. 2002); cert. denied, 539 U.S. 937 (2003); 386 F.3d 668 (6th Cir. 2004); cert. granted, 545 U.S. 1151 (2005).
Holding
Post-conviction DNA forensic evidence can be considered in death penalty appeals.
Court membership
Chief Justice
John Roberts
Associate Justices
John P. Stevens · Antonin Scalia
Anthony Kennedy · David Souter
Clarence Thomas · Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen Breyer · Samuel Alito
Case opinions
MajorityKennedy, joined by Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer
Concur/dissentRoberts, joined by Scalia, Thomas
Alito took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. IV

House v. Bell, 547 U.S. 518 (2006), is a United States Supreme Court case challenging the permissibility of new DNA forensic evidence that becomes available post-conviction, in capital punishment appeals when those claims have defaulted pursuant to state law. The Court found that admitting new DNA evidence was in line with Schlup v. Delo (1995), which allows cases to be reopened in light of new evidence.