Missouri prisoner of four decades wins innocence claim in court
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A Missouri judge has ordered that Sandra Hemme be released or retried in the next 30 days.
It’s a court victory that comes after more than four decades of imprisonment.
Sandra Hemme has been in prison since she was convicted of a 1980 murder that happened in St. Joseph, Missouri. A librarian named Patricia Jeschke was found dead inside her apartment—she was 31 years old.
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“This Court finds the evidence establishing Ms. Hemme’s innocence to be clear and convincing,” concluded Judge Ryan W. Horsman.
Hemme is represented by the attorneys through the Innocence Project who immediately applauded the order and requested a bond hearing to free her.
“She is of course, very happy and grateful for this decision,” said attorney Jane Pucher. “I think it was a bit of a shock to get it because you don’t know when something is going to come down. She’s eager to return to her family.”
Hemme’s legal team pointed out that Hemme was a psychiatric patient at the time and Saint Joseph police department detectives questioned her eight different times over two weeks. Each time, her story was different.
Attorney’s claim police interviews took place when Hemme was so medicated she couldn’t even hold her head up.
“This case is a really shocking one. And anyone who learns about it whether they are an attorney or just a person in the community is really horrified to know that someone in Sandy’s condition would have been questioned repeatedly- over and over again when she was clearly so unwell and so malleable and vulnerable,” said Pucher.
Her legal team claims police ignored evidence that pointed to one of their own on the Saint Joseph Police Department (SJPD). They believe police officer Michael Holman is likely responsible for Jeschke’s death.
Police learned that Holman used Patricia Jeschke’s credit card on the day her body was found to buy photography equipment in Kansas City. They also found the victim’s earrings hidden in Holman’s apartment. His truck was spotted near the crime scene.
Holmam was being investigated for insurance fraud and burglaries. He eventually left the department went to another state and ended up in prison. He died in 2015.
The new court filing agrees that Hemme had ineffective legal counsel, important evidence was not disclosed at the time of her original trial and information shows she meets legal innocence standards.
The order is 188 pages long. Judge Horsman included this statement:
“The jury that convicted Ms. Hemme heard only a small portion of the evidence that undermined the State’s case against her, and no evidence that the SJPD chose to end their investigation into Holman before it was complete, including the failure to respond to the FBI’s request for clearer palm prints of Holman’s. The nondisclosure of that evidence resulted in a trial that was fundamentally unfair, resulting in a verdict unworthy of confidence.”
Today, Sandra Hemme is 64 years old and has spent her entire adult life in prison.
It will be up to Buchanan County Prosecutor, Michelle Davidson to decide if she will proceed with a new trial or simply dismiss the case.
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