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Court upholds freedom for woman whose conviction was overturned after 43 years behind bars

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Court upholds freedom for woman whose conviction was overturned after 43 years behind bars
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News

Court upholds freedom for woman whose conviction was overturned after 43 years behind bars

2024-10-23 07:10 Last Updated At:07:20

An appellate court ruled Tuesday that a lower court was right when it decided to overturn the murder conviction of a woman who spent 43 years behind bars for a killing that her attorneys argue was committed by a discredited police officer.

Sandra Hemme was freed in July while the decision to overturn her conviction was reviewed -- at the insistence of Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who argued she should remain imprisoned.

Presiding Judge Cynthia Martin wrote in the scathing 71-page ruling that some arguments raised by Bailey's office bordered “on the absurd” and gave prosecutors 10 days to refile charges.

“It is time for this miscarriage of justice to end,” Hemme's attorneys said in a statement.

Hemme had been the longest-held wrongly incarcerated woman known in the U.S., according to her legal team at the Innocence Project.

A spokeswoman for Bailey didn’t immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Hemme was being treated with heavy doses of antipsychotic drugs when she was first questioned about the 1980 murder of 31-year-old library worker Patricia Jeschke in St. Joseph. One of Hemme's attorneys, Sean O'Brien, likened the drugs to a “chemical straightjacket” in an October hearing and said they raised questions about her ultimate confession.

“It makes her compliant,” he said. “It makes her subject to susceptibility.”

O'Brien also outlined evidence that was withheld that pointed to Michael Holman — a former police officer, who died in 2015. Evidence showed that Holman’s pickup truck was seen outside Jeschke’s apartment, that he tried to use her credit card, and that her earrings were found in his home.

The appellate court's ruling said the record “strongly suggests” that police buried their investigation into Holman.

The same conclusion was reached in June when Judge Ryan Horsman in Livingston County overturned her conviction. He found that Hemme's attorney had established “clear and convincing evidence” of “actual innocence."

But Bailey asked the appellate court to review that decision, arguing that Horsman had exceeded his authority and that Hemme failed to present sufficient evidence on some of her claims.

What ensued was a month-long fight over whether she should be freed while that review took place. A circuit judge, an appellate court and the Missouri Supreme Court all agreed Hemme should be released, but she was still held behind bars as Bailey argued that she still had time to serve on decades-old prison assault cases.

Hemme walked free only after Horsman threatened to hold the attorney general’s office in contempt.

At the latest hearing in October, Andrew Clarke, an assistant attorney general, faced tough questioning.

One of the appellate court judges noted particular concern about what happened when Holman, the discredited police officer, couldn’t be ruled out as the source of a palm print detected on a TV antenna cable found next to the victim’s body.

The FBI asked for clearer prints, but police didn’t follow up. Jurors never heard about that or other evidence because the police never informed prosecutors.

“The court," Clarke said in response to questions about the significance of suppressed evidence, "has to consider what its value is at a future trial, what it would look like. And if it undermines confidence in the prior verdict.”

Clarke contended that some of the evidence at issue might not have met the bar to be presented in court — a contention the judges questioned.

Bailey has a history of fighting overturned conviction cases. In July, a St. Louis circuit judge overturned Christopher Dunn’s murder conviction and ordered his immediate release. Among the key evidence used to convict him of first-degree murder was testimony from two boys who later recanted, saying they had been coerced by police and prosecutors.

Bailey appealed to try and keep Dunn locked up before he ultimately was released.

FILE - Sandra Hemme, center, meets with family and supporters after she was released from Chillicothe Correctional Center, Friday, July 19, 2024, in Chillicothe, Miss. (HG Biggs/The Kansas City Star via AP, File)

FILE - Sandra Hemme, center, meets with family and supporters after she was released from Chillicothe Correctional Center, Friday, July 19, 2024, in Chillicothe, Miss. (HG Biggs/The Kansas City Star via AP, File)

FILE - This undated booking photo provided by the Missouri Department of Corrections shows Sandra Hemme. (Missouri Department of Corrections via AP, File)

FILE - This undated booking photo provided by the Missouri Department of Corrections shows Sandra Hemme. (Missouri Department of Corrections via AP, File)

Next Article

Cuba fights to come back from a nationwide blackout, then a storm that killed 7

2024-10-23 07:19 Last Updated At:07:20

HAVANA (AP) — A small town in Cuba was recovering Tuesday from flooding that killed at least seven people after Oscar crossed the island’s eastern coast as a tropical storm with winds and heavy rain.

Cuba's capital was partially illuminated after a large-scale blackout generated a handful of protests and a stern government warning that any unrest would be punished.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel said on state television that rescue and recovery work continued in the town of San Antonio del Sur and officials hadn't yet entered some flooded areas. On Tuesday, he confirmed another death in the small town of Imias in the province of Guantanamo.

People in Havana collected subsidized food Tuesday and said the country faced an intensive recovery period.

“There are lines everywhere you go,” city resident Carlos López said. “You get to a place and there are obstacles and obstacles.”

Tropical Storm Oscar disintegrated as it headed toward the Bahamas after making landfall in Cuba as a Category 1 hurricane. The remnants were expected to drop up to 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain across the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Modesto Hernández, who lives in central Havana, said Tuesday that he and others “don’t know anything about what is going on.”

“These problems need to be solved now,” he said. "We are in bad shape.”

Díaz-Canel warned on national television Sunday that “we're not going to allow any vandalism, or let anyone disturb people's tranquility."

The prolonged nationwide blackout that followed a massive outage Thursday night was part of countrywide energy problems that led to the largest protests in Cuba in almost 30 years, in July 2021. Those were followed by smaller local protests in October 2022 and March 2024.

All are part of a deep economic crisis that has prompted the exodus of more than half a million Cubans to the U.S., with thousands more heading to Europe.

The Cuban government and its allies blame the United States' 62-year-old trade embargo on the island for its economic problems but White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that the Cuban government’s “long-term mismanagement of its economic policy and resources has certainly increased the hardship of people in Cuba.”

Power remains relatively cheap but increasingly unavailable. The Cuban government on state television Monday night said that it’s producing 1300 megawatts when peak demand can hit 3 gigawatts. Authorities said by Monday afternoon that about 80% of Havana had intermittent power but people remained fearful. Classes remained closed through at least Thursday.

Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said Oscar would bring “an additional inconvenience” to Cuba's recovery since it would affect key Cuban power plants, such as Felton in the city of Holguín, and Renté in Santiago de Cuba.

Many of Havana's 2 million people resorted to cooking with improvised wood stoves on the streets before their food went bad in refrigerators. People lined up to buy subsidized food and few gas stations were open.

The failure of the Antonio Guiteras plant on Friday was the latest problem with energy distribution in a country where electricity has been restricted and rotated among different regions at different times.

The blackout was considered to be Cuba’s worst since Hurricane Ian hit the island as a Category 3 storm in 2022 and damaged power installations. It took days for the government to fix them.

Local authorities initially said the outage stemmed from increased demand from small- and medium-sized companies and residential air conditioners. Later, the blackout got worse because of breakdowns in old thermoelectric plants that haven’t been properly maintained, and the lack of fuel to operate some facilities.

Associated Press writer Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

A cook looks in on a resident during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A cook looks in on a resident during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A man walks down the street holding slices of pizza during a massive blackout following the failure of a major power plant in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A man walks down the street holding slices of pizza during a massive blackout following the failure of a major power plant in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A person fishes along the boardwalk as waves crash during a power outage in Havana, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A person fishes along the boardwalk as waves crash during a power outage in Havana, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Residents pass the time at the malecon during a blackout following the failure of a major power plant in Havana, Cuba, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Residents pass the time at the malecon during a blackout following the failure of a major power plant in Havana, Cuba, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People play dominoes on the street during a power outage in Havana, Cuba, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People play dominoes on the street during a power outage in Havana, Cuba, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Residents stand outside their homes to avoid the heat indoors during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Residents stand outside their homes to avoid the heat indoors during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A woman buys soup from a street vendor during a power outage in Havana, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A woman buys soup from a street vendor during a power outage in Havana, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

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