Current:Home > InvestMissouri Supreme Court clears way for release of woman imprisoned for library worker's 1980 murder-LoTradeCoin
Missouri Supreme Court clears way for release of woman imprisoned for library worker's 1980 murder
View Date:2024-12-23 18:50:22
The Missouri Supreme Court has cleared the way for the release of a Missouri woman whose murder conviction was overturned after she served 43 years in prison, but she still remained in custody as of Thursday evening.
Sandra Hemme's lawyers say Republian Attorney General Andrew Bailey's Office's is disregarding the ruling and is directing the Department of Corrections not to release Hemme, CBS affiliate KCTV reported.
A circuit court judge ruled last month that Hemme's attorneys showed evidence of her "actual innocence," and an appeals court ruled she should be freed while her case is reviewed.
But Hemme's immediate freedom has been complicated by lengthy sentences she received for crimes she committed while behind bars - a total of 12 years, which were piled on top of the life sentence she received for her murder conviction.
Bailey took his fight to keep her locked up to the state's highest court, but her attorneys argued that keeping her incarcerated any longer would be a "draconian outcome."
Her release appeared imminent after the Missouri Supreme Court refused to undo lower court rulings that allowed her to be released on her own recognizance and placed in the custody of her sister and brother-in-law in the Missouri town of Higginsville.
No details have been released on when Hemme will be freed. One of her attorneys, Sean O'Brien, filed a motion Thursday asking that a judge "hold an emergency status conference at the earliest possible time" and order Hemme's release.
Hemme's lawyers, in an emailed statement to The Associated Press, said her family "is eager and ready to reunite with her, and the Department of Corrections should respect and promptly" release her.
Hemme, now 64, had been serving a life sentence at a prison northeast of Kansas City after she was twice convicted of murder in the death of library worker Patricia Jeschke.
She's been the longest-held wrongly incarcerated woman known in the U.S., according to her legal team at the Innocence Project.
"This Court finds that the totality of the evidence supports a finding of actual innocence," Circuit Court Judge Ryan Horsman concluded after an extensive review.
Horsman noted that Hemme was heavily sedated and in a "malleable mental state" when investigators repeatedly questioned her in a psychiatric hospital. Her attorneys described her ultimate confession as "often monosyllabic responses to leading questions." Other than this confession, no evidence linked her to the crime, her trial prosecutor said.
"Police exploited her mental illness and coerced her into making false statements while she was sedated and being treated with antipsychotic medication," the Innocence Project said. "The only evidence that ever connected Ms. Hemme to the crime was her own unreliable and false confessions: statements taken from her while she was being treated at the state psychiatric hospital and forcibly given medication literally designed to overpower her will."
The St. Joseph Police Department, meanwhile, ignored evidence pointing to Michael Holman - a fellow officer, who died in 2015 - and the prosecution wasn't told about FBI results that could have cleared her, so it was never disclosed before her trials, the judge found.
"This Court finds that the evidence shows that Ms. Hemme's statements to police are so unreliable and that the evidence pointing to Michael Holman as the perpetrator of the crime so objective and probative that no reasonable juror would find Ms. Hemme guilty," Horsman concluded in his 118-page ruling. "She is the victim of a manifest injustice."
- In:
- Wrongful Convictions
- Missouri
veryGood! (553)
Related
- ‘Maybe Happy Ending’ review: Darren Criss shines in one of the best musicals in years
- North Texas Suburb Approves New Fracking Zone Near Homes and Schools
- UN Considering Reforms to Limit Influence of Fossil Fuel Industry at Global Climate Talks
- Log and Burn, or Leave Alone? Indiana Residents Fight US Forest Service Over the Future of Hoosier National Forest
- Trump pledged to roll back protections for transgender students. They’re flooding crisis hotlines
- Water, Water Everywhere, Yet Local U.S. Planners Are Lowballing Their Estimates
- UN Considering Reforms to Limit Influence of Fossil Fuel Industry at Global Climate Talks
- Bracing for Climate Impacts on Lake Erie, the Walleye Capital of the World
- Lou Donaldson, jazz saxophonist who blended many influences, dead at 98
- Paris Hilton Celebrates 6 Months With Angel Baby Phoenix in Sweet Message
Ranking
- Horoscopes Today, November 9, 2024
- Sofía Vergara and Joe Manganiello Break Up After 7 Years of Marriage
- On the Eve of Plastics Treaty Talks, a Youth Advocate From Ghana Speaks Out: ‘We Need Urgent Action’
- Advocates from Across the Country Rally in Chicago for Coal Ash Rule Reform
- Republican David Schweikert wins reelection in affluent Arizona congressional district
- This Texas Community Has Waited Decades for Running Water. Could Hydro-Panels Help?
- Alix Earle Recommended This $8 Dermaplaning Tool and I Had To Try It: Here’s What Happened
- UN Considering Reforms to Limit Influence of Fossil Fuel Industry at Global Climate Talks
Recommendation
-
Why Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams May Be Rejoining the George R.R. Martin Universe
-
Q&A: What to Do About Pollution From a Vast New Shell Plastics Plant in Pennsylvania
-
Virtual Power Plants Are Coming to Save the Grid, Sooner Than You Might Think
-
Madewell's High Summer Event: Score an Extra 25% off on Summer Staples Like Tops, Shorts, Dresses & More
-
Man jailed after Tuskegee University shooting says he fired his gun, but denies shooting at anyone
-
Miranda Lambert Stops Las Vegas Concert to Call Out Fans for Taking Selfies
-
Plans for I-55 Expansion in Chicago Raise Concerns Over Air Quality and Community Health
-
Madewell's High Summer Event: Score an Extra 25% off on Summer Staples Like Tops, Shorts, Dresses & More