After high court ruling, Missouri woman exonerated for decades-old murder could be released

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (CN) — A ruling Thursday by the Missouri Supreme Court could lead to the release of an exonerated woman who has served 43 years in prison.

Sandra Hemme, now 64, has 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 is the longest-known wrongfully incarcerated woman in America, according to The Innocence Project, which represents Hemme.

A Livingston County circuit judge ruled last month that Sandra Hemme’s attorneys showed evidence of her “actual innocence.” An appeals court then ruled she should be freed while her case is reviewed.

But her freedom has been complicated due to crimes committed by Hemme since she went to prison. On top of her murder sentence, Hemme has received 12 additional years for those crimes.

State Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican running for election in November, appealed to the state’s high court in an effort to keep Hemme behind bars. Hemme’s attorneys countered that keeping her locked up would be a “draconian outcome.”

On Thursday, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s ruling, which allowed her to be released and placed in the custody of her sister and brother-in-law in the Missouri town of Higginsville. Neither the Innocence Project nor the Attorney General’s office immediately responded to requests for comment.

It is not clear when Hemme will be released.

One of her attorneys, Sean O’Brien, filed a motion Thursday asking a judge to hold an emergency status conference to order Hemme’s release. At press time, though, nothing has been scheduled.

“Ms. Hemme’s father, who is over 90 years old, is hospitalized with kidney failure and this day was moved to palliative care,” O’Brien wrote in the motion. “He wants only to see his daughter free in his lifetime, just as Ms. Hemme wants nothing more than to be at her father’s bedside at this time. Further delay of this Court’s release order, in effect since July 9, will cause Ms. Hemme and her family irreparable harm and emotional distress.”

In a 118-page order on June 14, Circuit Judge Ryan Horsman found that evidence in the case supports Hemme’s innocence.

Horsman noted that Ms. Hemme was heavily sedated when investigators repeatedly questioned her in a psychiatric hospital, years ago. Her attorneys described her ultimate confession as “often monosyllabic responses to leading questions.” No evidence linked her to the crime, according to the Innocence Project.

Horsman also found that the St. Joseph Police Department had ignored evidence pointing to Michael Holman as the perpetrator.

A former police officer, Holman died in 2015. The judge also noted that the prosecution wasn’t told about FBI results that could have cleared Hemme.

“The failure of Ms. Hemme’s trial counsel to use evidence supporting the conclusion that Holman committed the murder was both deficient and prejudicial to Ms. Hemme,” Horsman wrote. “Her actual innocence allows this Court to reach the merits of this claim notwithstanding any procedural default.”

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