End of Sandra Hemme’s legal battle over her innocence, exoneration is finally in sight
Sandra Hemme spent more than 43 years in prison for a St. Joseph murder she did not commit.
She was released from prison in July after a judge determined she had been wrongfully convicted and was “the victim of a manifest injustice.”
But her journey in the justice system wasn’t over.
Hemme’s full exoneration was stymied by the Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office, which opposed her innocence case and then fought to send her back to prison.
The attorney general’s efforts failed, but Hemme was further hindered by Buchanan County Prosecutor Michelle Davidson, who for months dragged her feet on making a decision to either dismiss the charges or retry Hemme.
But late Monday, Davidson let a deadline to retry Hemme expire. Hemme’s legal team filed a motion Tuesday to dismiss the case. If Livingston County Circuit Judge Ryan Horsman — who already declared Hemme innocent in June — signs off on that, she will be fully exonerated.
In the motion, Hemme’s legal team noted that she has complied by the conditions of her release and has been receiving mental health support while living with her sister and brother-in-law.
“She and her family are very happy to have her living at home, and they are all thankful that the State of Missouri has allowed the deadline fixed by the Court of Appeals to expire without filing a written notice of intent to retry this case,” the motion said. “Ms. Hemme and her family are looking forward to spending Thanksgiving together for the first time in forty-four years.”
Davidson and the attorney general’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Librarian killed in 1980
Hemme was medicated and in a psychiatric hospital when she was first interviewed by police about the November 1980 murder of Patricia Jeschke, a librarian who had been found dead in her St. Joseph residence. Officers questioned her several more times.
At an evidentiary hearing in January before Judge Horsman, an investigator testified that he stopped one of those interviews because “she didn’t seem totally coherent.”
In Horsman’s June order, he noted that no forensic evidence connected Hemme to the murder. She did not have a motive and there were no witnesses tying her to the crime.
“The only evidence linking Ms. Hemme to the crime was that of her own inconsistent, disproven statements, statements that were taken while she was in psychiatric crisis and physical pain,” Horsman wrote.
Hemme’s legal team presented evidence about an alternative suspect, Michael Holman, a former St. Joseph police officer who died in 2015.
Holman’s truck was seen in the area the day of the murder, his alibi could not be corroborated and he used Jeschke’s credit card after he said he found it in a purse in a ditch. A pair of gold horseshoe-shaped earrings identified by Jeschke’s father was also found in Holman’s possession.
Horsman said in his June 14 order that Holman’s “links to the murder are substantial and objective.”
Prolonged legal battle
On July 9, Horsman issued an order for Hemme’s release. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office called the prison warden and stopped her release even though no stay was in place.
Bailey’s office also filed motions in Livingston County and with the Western District Court of Appeals and the Missouri Supreme Court objecting to Horsman’s findings.
During a heated hearing on July 20, Horsman threatened to hold officials with the attorney general’s office in contempt if they further prevented her release.
“I would suggest, counsel, you never do that again,” Horsman told Assistant Attorney General Andrew Clarke regarding their calls to the warden, adding that it was “wrong, absolutely wrong.”
Hemme walked out the doors of Chillicothe Correctional Facility a couple hours later. She was accompanied by her legal team and met by several family members.
Her father died days after she was freed.
And her legal woes were not over.
On Oct. 9, arguments on an appeal brought by the attorney general’s office were presented before three Missouri judges with the Western District.
Hemme listened on as Clarke told the panel of judges that Horsman’s order to overturn her conviction violated the Missouri Constitution and misapplies state and federal laws.
Her lawyers rehashed evidence pointing to Holman as well as other violations, including evidence that was not turned over to her original trial attorneys.
The appellate court sided with Hemme on Oct. 22.
Bailey’s office did not file another notice of appeal, and the appellate court issued a mandate Nov. 13 giving Davidson until Monday to file an intent to retry Hemme.
Hemme’s legal team filed a motion Tuesday to dismiss the case. Once a judge signs it, she will be exonerated.
