House next sought federal habeas corpus relief, asserting numerous claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and prosecutorial misconduct.

In November 2002, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reviewed the case in light of new DNA evidence that might exonerate House.

Additionally, House advanced the theory that the blood found on his jeans was spilled onto them from autopsy samples while the evidence was being transported from Tennessee to the FBI crime lab.

In December 2003, the Tennessee Supreme Court refused to consider whether new DNA evidence presented during death penalty appeals necessitates a new trial, and declined to answer other questions posed.

This standard, based on the principle of respect for state court judgments, is normally a difficult one for convicted defendants to meet.

The United States Supreme Court recognized a "miscarriage of justice" exception to the above rule for "extraordinary cases" in a 1995 decision, Schlup v.

The State argued that since neither sexual contact nor motive were elements of the offense, this evidence would have not affected the jury’s decision to convict House had it been available at trial.

According to the Court, a jury acting without the assumption that the semen could have come from House would have found it necessary to establish a different motive for her murder.

During the investigation of Mrs. Muncey's murder, the doctor who performed the autopsy passed the vials to two local law enforcement officers who transported it to the FBI, where further testing occurred.

The cardboard box was carried in the officers' car, and transported while they made the 10-hour journey from Tennessee to the FBI lab.

In the post-trial proceedings, House's attorneys presented evidence that Mr. Muncey, the victim's husband, could have been the murderer.

House's attorneys produced evidence from multiple sources suggesting that Muncey regularly abused his wife.

[10] He was released from prison several months later in 2006 but returned due to procedural challenges from the state, and held for two more years.

[11] The prosecutor originally said he would retry House and believed that he was involved in the murder, but finally dropped the charges in May 2009.