Sandra Hemme Exonerated After 44-Year Fight for Justice

Sandra Hemme, once the longest-known wrongly incarcerated woman in American history, has been officially exonerated after a 44-year battle to clear her name. Ms. Hemme was falsely accused of a 1980 murder and spent more than four decades in prison before her release in July 2024.

On December 3, 2024, Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Ryan Horsman permanently vacated Ms. Hemme's 1985 conviction and sentence for second-degree murder. The ruling follows a series of legal victories, including the court’s recognition of due process violations and evidence proving Ms. Hemme’s actual innocence.

Earlier this year, Judge Horsman granted Ms. Hemme’s habeas corpus petition, citing significant violations in her original trial and determining she had demonstrated her innocence during a January evidentiary hearing. In October, the Missouri Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously upheld this decision, rejecting Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s appeal. The court ordered the charges against Ms. Hemme be dropped unless the state initiated a retrial within ten days—a deadline that passed without action from the prosecution.

A Wrongful Conviction Built on Unreliable Evidence

The case against Ms. Hemme hinged solely on her own inconsistent and unreliable confessions, which were obtained while she was in psychiatric crisis, medicated, and in severe pain at a state psychiatric hospital. There were no witnesses or physical evidence linking her to the crime, the victim, or the crime scene.

In contrast, critical evidence that could have exonerated Ms. Hemme was suppressed during the investigation. The St. Joseph Police Department withheld evidence implicating one of their own officers. This officer was found using the victim’s credit card the day after the murder, was seen near the victim’s home at the time of the crime, and was discovered hiding the victim’s earrings in his residence.

The habeas court concluded that the suppressed evidence pointed overwhelmingly to the officer’s involvement, stating, “It would be difficult to imagine that the State could prove Ms. Hemme’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt based on the weight of the evidence now available that ties [the officer] to this victim and crime and excludes Ms. Hemme.”

A Broader Pattern of Injustice

Ms. Hemme’s exoneration is part of a larger pattern of wrongful convictions in Missouri. The state has faced national scrutiny in cases like that of Marcellus Williams, a man convicted of murder and sentenced to death despite substantial evidence casting doubt on his guilt. His case drew widespread attention and highlighted the urgent need for reforms to prevent wrongful convictions. Together, these cases underscore the systemic failures that undermine trust in the criminal justice system.

A Bittersweet Victory

While Ms. Hemme’s exoneration marks the end of a decades-long nightmare, her attorneys note the profound injustice of her case. “It is clear that from the beginning of this case Sandra should have never been a suspect,” said Jane Pucher, Senior Staff Attorney at the Innocence Project.

Since her release, Ms. Hemme has been cherishing time with her family, savoring the freedom to celebrate the holidays with loved ones, including her mother, siblings, granddaughter, nieces, and nephews.

A Team Effort to Prove Innocence

Ms. Hemme’s legal team included the Innocence Project’s Jane Pucher, Andrew Lee, and Kaila Johnson, along with co-counsel Sean O’Brien, a law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Their persistent efforts not only overturned Ms. Hemme’s wrongful conviction but also shed light on the systemic failures that led to her decades-long imprisonment.

Sandra Hemme’s case serves as a powerful reminder of the need for accountability, transparency, and justice in the criminal legal system.

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