5 months ago
24
NEW DELHI: A
Missouri judge
overturned the conviction of
Sandra Hemme
, a woman who has been in prison for 43 years for a murder her attorneys argue was committed by a now-discredited police officer.
Judge Ryan Horsman ruled that Hemme had established evidence of
actual innocence
and must be released within 30 days unless prosecutors decide to retry her.
The judge cited ineffective trial counsel and the failure of prosecutors to disclose evidence that would have helped Hemme's case.
Hemme's attorneys from the New York-based
Innocence Project
claim that this is the longest time a woman has been
wrongfully imprisoned
. They have filed a motion seeking her immediate release and have vowed to continue their efforts to dismiss the charges and reunite Hemme with her family.
When Hemme was first questioned about the death of 31-year-old library worker Patricia Jeschke, she was heavily sedated and restrained, according to her lawyers. They allege that authorities ignored Hemme's inconsistent statements and suppressed evidence implicating Michael Holman, a then-police officer who tried to use the victim's credit card.
The judge noted that "no evidence whatsoever outside of Hemme's unreliable statements connects her to the crime," while "the evidence directly ties Holman to this crime and murder scene."
The case began on November 13, 1980, when Jeschke's mother discovered her daughter's body in her apartment. Hemme, who had a history of hospitalizations for mental health issues, became a suspect nearly two weeks later.
During interrogations, Hemme was being treated with antipsychotic drugs that caused involuntary muscle spasms and made it difficult for her to comprehend the questions. Despite the inconsistencies in her statements, Hemme eventually pleaded guilty to capital murder in exchange for avoiding the death penalty. However, her plea was later thrown out on appeal, and she was convicted again in 1985 after a one-day trial in which jurors were not informed of the coercive nature of her interrogations.
Larry Harman, who helped Hemme get her initial guilty plea overturned and later became a judge, believed in her innocence and said, "the system failed her at every opportunity."
(With agency inputs)
