United States ยท Missouri, Buchanan County
Sandra Hemme: wrongly convicted, exonerated
Convicted of Capital murder of a library worker in St. Joseph in 1980.
Convicted5 June 1985
SentenceLife imprisonment without parole for 50 years
Years in prison43
Exonerated3 December 2024
How the conviction was overturnedCourt found actual innocence on a state habeas petition, ordered a new trial, and later signed an unconditional release order, Buchanan County Circuit Court (Judge Ryan Horsman), affirmed by the Missouri Court of Appeals1,2
What went wrong
- False confession by a woman with serious mental illness
- Prosecution failure to disclose evidence pointing to a police officer
- Inadequate legal defense
From conviction to exoneration
- Pleaded guilty, a plea later thrown out on appeal.1,2
- Convicted of capital murder by a jury after a one day trial.1,2
- Filed a state habeas corpus petition.1
- Judge Ryan Horsman found she had established actual innocence and ordered her release unless prosecutors retried her.1,2
- Released from prison after courts rejected the Missouri Attorney General's efforts to keep her in custody.1
- The Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the habeas ruling.1
- Judge Horsman signed an unconditional release order.1
Today
Exonerated and free, with an unconditional release order signed in December 2024.
Sources
- Innocence Project, Sandra Hemme
- Associated Press (via ABC News), Missouri woman's murder conviction tossed after 43 years. Her lawyers say a police officer did it (15 June 2024)