KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Years of legal wrangling have come to an end for a woman who spent 43 years behind bars for a killing that her attorneys argue was committed by a discredited police officer.
A judge ruled Tuesday that Sandra Hemme can't be retried, the final step in a tumultuous journey to making her freedom permanent. Hemme had been the longest-held wrongly incarcerated woman known in the U.S., according to her legal team at the Innocence Project.
She was freed in July but under a cloud as Attorney General Andrew Bailey continued to argue that she should remain imprisoned. Last month, an appellate court found that some arguments raised by Bailey’s office bordered "on the absurd” and sided with the lower court judge that overturned her murder conviction. The ruling gave prosecutors 10 days to refile charges.
Once that time ran out, Hemme's attorneys filed a motion seeking her “unconditional release." They had no immediate comment on the decision to grant their request.
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.
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.
Judge Ryan Horsman in Livingston County cited some of that evidence when he found that Hemme’s attorney had established “clear and convincing evidence” of “actual innocence.”
But Bailey asked the appellate court to review Horsman's decision, leading to a monthlong 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.
Now it is over. Tuesday's ruling from Horsman orders her “permanently and unconditionally discharged from custody.”
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)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Defense Secretary, spent a second day on Capitol Hill, meeting privately with Republican senators amid rising questions about his ability to effectively lead the Pentagon.
Hegseth told reporters Tuesday that he was planning to sit down with senators, even with those potentially skeptical of his nomination.
“We’re going to meet with every senator that wants to meet with us, across the board,” Hegseth as he went from office to office. “And we welcome their advice as we go through the advice and counsel process.”
Trump tapped the Fox News co-host, a former Army National Guard major and combat veteran who deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, as his Secretary of Defense, typically among the first Cabinet posts to be considered by the U.S. Senate for confirmation.
But Hegseth is running into questions amid a sexual assault allegation, which he has denied, and other emerging reports about his work conduct and history.
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham said some of the reports are “disturbing.”
“I want to make sure that every young woman that joins the military feels respected and welcomed,” Graham told CBS News.
The South Carolina lawmaker told the AP later that he doesn’t know whether to believe the allegations, and Hegseth “has a chance to say that’s true or not true.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said he's seen the reports. “I’ll get the chance to talk to him, and I’m sure he’ll address them," he said. "But my view is, have the hearing.”
Before he was tapped to serve as a weekend host of “Fox & Friends,” Hegseth served at two veterans advocacy groups, Concerned Veterans for America and Veterans For Freedom.
In new allegations this week, the New Yorker cited what it described as a whistleblower report and other documents about his time leading CVA that alleged multiple incidents of alcohol intoxication at work events, inappropriate behavior around female staffers and financial mismanagement.
NBC News reported that several unnamed current and former Fox employees who worked with Hegseth said his drinking habits raised concerns, including some who said he would show up smelling of alcohol.
The Associated Press spoke to four people who had either worked at CVA or were familiar with Hegseth’s time there who insisted on anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media or had signed nondisclosure agreements.
While the group’s all-day conferences could run late and often wind up at a nearby bar, three of the four said they had not seen Hegseth intoxicated at events.
One person who had been connected to CVA told the AP, however, that some employees had raised concerns about Hegseth’s alcohol use but said that his departure from the group was more connected to growing ideological differences between him and the network of conservative nonprofits funded by billionaire donors Charles Koch and his late brother, David Koch.
Trump is drawing from the ranks of loyalists to fill his administration and to Cabinet positions, often stunning Washington with unusual choices that are provocative and testing the senators who will be asked to confirm them under the chamber’s advise and consent role.
An early pick, Matt Gaetz, the former congressman from Florida, abruptly withdrew from consideration when it became clear that Senate support was crumbling. Gaetz, who had been investigated but never charged in a federal sex trafficking probe, faced a House Ethics investigation over sexual misconduct.
Trump's choices can only afford to lose a few detractors in the Senate, where it takes majority approval to be confirmed. Republicans will have a 53-seat majority in the new year, meaning four GOP votes could sink a nominee, if all Democrats are opposed.
Republican senators have been weighing their options.
If confirmed, Hegseth would not only be part of critical command and control of the nation’s nuclear weapons, he would be sixth in the line of succession to the presidency. It’s a position that ages its occupants and demands constant response, due to the number of middle-of-the-night contingencies that can occur when U.S. service members are put in harm’s way.
There have been private discussions among senators about the allegations and how to approach the situation, according to one person granted anonymity to discuss the private conversations.
During a closed-door meeting with about a dozen senators late Monday evening, none asked Hegseth about the allegations against him.
“You know what? The American people care about restoring our military,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, after the meeting. He decried as “shameful” the criticism of Hegseth.
While Republican senators are reluctant to raise questions publicly — and several dismissed the reports outright — many of them indicated he could face tough questions in a confirmation hearing.
“That’s what the process is for,” said Utah Rep. John Curtis, an incoming freshman senator.
Questions about Hegseth and other nominees are “why a background check is important, why a committee investigation is critical,” said Maine Sen. Susan Collins.
Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville said after meeting Monday with Hegseth that he is very supportive of the nomination.
But Tuberville said of the allegations: “If it’s to a certain degree, people aren’t going to vote to confirm him.“
Hegseth, 44, was a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends Weekend” and had been a contributor with the network since 2014. He developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show.
Hegseth served in the Army National Guard from 2002 to 2021, deploying to Iraq in 2005 and Afghanistan in 2011 and earning two Bronze Stars. He lacks senior military and national security experience and would oversee global crises ranging from Europe to the Middle East.
A woman told police that she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Hegseth after he took her phone, blocked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave, according to a detailed investigative report recently made public.
Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and has denied any wrongdoing.
Associated Press writers Byron Tau and Kimberly Kindy and researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be defense secretary, is joined by his wife Jennifer Rauchet, left, as they arrive to meet with Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be defense secretary, is joined by his wife Jennifer Rauchet, left, as they arrive to meet with Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
