In a unanimous opinion, the Missouri Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that Sandra Hemme, 64, was wrongly convicted of murder and she should be freed.
In a single sentence, the Missouri Court of Appeals changed the trajectory of Hemme’s life.
“Hemme’s 1985 conviction of capital murder in Buchanan County, Missouri … is vacated,” the court wrote.
Hemme spent 43 years in prison for the murder of Patricia Jeschke, a librarian from St. Joseph. It's the longest sentence any woman wrongly convicted in the U.S. has ever served.
The 71-page ruling was handed down remarkably fast — just 13 days after oral arguments — and rejected every argument made by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey.
“The opinion was a powerful statement from the court,” said Innocence Project attorney Jane Pucher. Hemme’s family “is grateful and relieved,” Pucher said, especially for how quickly the judges ruled.
In a hearing earlier this month, the attorney general’s office argued that Livingston County Judge Ryan Horsman, who heard Hemme’s wrongful conviction case, exceeded his authority 13 times in overturning her conviction.
For example, Bailey said Horsman erred by allowing into evidence an FBI report from 1985 that could have exonerated Hemme. That report was never disclosed to Hemme’s trial lawyers. Bailey argued that he was “ambushed” by that.
“The irony of the Attorney General’s contention is not lost on this Court,” the judges wrote. Bailey’s claims of an ambush “borders on the absurd,” the three-judge panel said.
As part of her case, Hemme’s attorneys argued that a discredited and now deceased St. Joseph police officer actually killed Jeschke in her apartment.
The officer was convicted of using the victim’s credit card, but as part of his plea deal for what the appeals court described as a “crime spree” was granted immunity from any other crime. Bailey argued none of that needed to be disclosed to Hemme.
The appeals court disagreed.
“It is incredulous that the Attorney General believes this crime evidence is not independently exculpatory,” the opinion said.
The court also criticized the St. Joseph Police Department.
“We are left with the same unmistakable impression” possessed by Horsman that the police, “ignored and buried evidence coming into its possession.”
Hemme is living with her sister in mid-Missouri, about an hour from Chillicothe. She is out on bond as the case works its way through the courts. But she’s not quite free yet. The appeals panel gave Buchanan County Prosecutor Michelle Davidson 10 days to decide whether she will retry Hemme. Davidson’s office said there was nobody there Tuesday who could comment.
“Today’s opinion by the Court of Appeals brings us one step closer to ending Sandy’s 44-year nightmare,” said lawyer Sean O’Brien who argued the case in Livingston County and in the appeals court. “We are hoping it will soon be over once and for all.”
Bailey has been fighting Hemme’s freedom since she was first ruled innocent this summer. After Horsman overturned her conviction, Bailey vigorously opposed her release from prison. Bailey took his fight all the way to the Missouri Supreme Court. And even after the high court ordered her release, Bailey told the prison warden to ignore the court's order.
A text to Bailey’s office was not immediately returned.
