the charles smith blog: Sandra Hemme: Missouri: (False confession case and so very much more): From our 'Enough to make one weep' department.' She has spent more than four decades in prison for a crime that evidence supports she did not commit, making her the longest-known wrongly incarcerated woman in the U.S. - and as the Innocence Project points out - in a list of key facts we should know about her case: "Ms. Hemme, who had no connection to the victim, was a psychiatric patient receiving treatment when she was targeted by police. At the time of Ms. Jeschke’s death, Ms. Hemme, then 20, was a patient at St. Joseph’s State Hospital receiving treatment for auditory hallucinations, derealization, and drug misuse. Ms. Hemme had spent the majority of her life starting at age 12 in inpatient psychiatric treatment...Ms. Hemme was repeatedly interviewed by police under extremely coercive circumstances. Police conducted hours-long interviews with Ms. Hemme while she was in the hospital. At some points, she was so heavily medicated that she was unable to even hold her head up and was restrained and strapped to a chair. Over the course of these coercive interrogations, Ms. Hemme’s statements conflicted with the known facts of the crime and were internally inconsistent. More than 10% of exonerated people were wrongly convicted in cases involving false confessions."...If that is not enough..."Evidence pointed to a St. Joseph police officer as a suspect in Ms. Jeschke’s killing. Michael Holman, a St. Joseph police officer, admitted to being near Ms. Jeschke’s home at the time of the murder, and his white pickup truck was parked near the scene. Officer Holman had also attempted to use Ms. Jeschke’s credit card the day after her murder. 6. Police hid evidence that implicated Officer Holman as the person who actually killed Ms. Jeschke. Ms. Jeschke’s uniquely designed wishbone earrings — identified by her father, who had gifted them to her — were found in Officer Holman’s possession, along with jewelry stolen during another home burglary. Failing to turn over favorable evidence to the accused person is known as a Brady violation."

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Sandra Hemme: Missouri: (False confession case and so very much more): From our 'Enough to make one weep' department.' She has spent more than four decades in prison for a crime that evidence supports she did not commit, making her the longest-known wrongly incarcerated woman in the U.S. - and as the Innocence Project points out - in a list of key facts we should know about her case: "Ms. Hemme, who had no connection to the victim, was a psychiatric patient receiving treatment when she was targeted by police. At the time of Ms. Jeschke’s death, Ms. Hemme, then 20, was a patient at St. Joseph’s State Hospital receiving treatment for auditory hallucinations, derealization, and drug misuse. Ms. Hemme had spent the majority of her life starting at age 12 in inpatient psychiatric treatment...Ms. Hemme was repeatedly interviewed by police under extremely coercive circumstances. Police conducted hours-long interviews with Ms. Hemme while she was in the hospital. At some points, she was so heavily medicated that she was unable to even hold her head up and was restrained and strapped to a chair. Over the course of these coercive interrogations, Ms. Hemme’s statements conflicted with the known facts of the crime and were internally inconsistent. More than 10% of exonerated people were wrongly convicted in cases involving false confessions."...If that is not enough..."Evidence pointed to a St. Joseph police officer as a suspect in Ms. Jeschke’s killing. Michael Holman, a St. Joseph police officer, admitted to being near Ms. Jeschke’s home at the time of the murder, and his white pickup truck was parked near the scene. Officer Holman had also attempted to use Ms. Jeschke’s credit card the day after her murder. 6. Police hid evidence that implicated Officer Holman as the person who actually killed Ms. Jeschke. Ms. Jeschke’s uniquely designed wishbone earrings — identified by her father, who had gifted them to her — were found in Officer Holman’s possession, along with jewelry stolen during another home burglary. Failing to turn over favorable evidence to the accused person is known as a Brady violation."

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This Blog is interested in false confessions because of the disturbing number of exonerations in the USA, Canada and multiple other jurisdictions throughout the world, where, in the absence of incriminating forensic evidence the conviction is based on self-incrimination – and because of the growing body of scientific research showing how vulnerable suspects (especially young suspects) are to widely used interrogation methods such as the notorious ‘Reid Technique.’ As all too many of this Blog's post have shown, I also recognize that pressure for false confessions can take many forms, up to and including inducement. deception (read ‘outright lies’) physical violence, and even physical and mental torture.

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog:

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "This isn’t the first time the St. Joseph police wrongfully targeted and convicted a person with a mental health illness or disability that made them uniquely vulnerable to falsely confessing. In 1979, 24-year-old Melvin Lee Reynolds, who also spent time at St. Joseph’s State Hospital, was convicted of the 1978 murder of a 4-year-old boy. Many of the same officers who worked on Ms. Hemme’s case also worked on Mr. Reynolds’ case. And much like in Ms. Hemme’s case, officers obtained an alleged confession — a statement that did not align with the known facts of the crime — from Mr. Reynolds after interrogating him repeatedly. Four years later, Mr. Reynolds was exonerated."

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RELEASE: "8 Facts About Sandra Hemme’s Case You Need to Know, published by Innocence Project staff."

SUB-HEADING: "Sandra Hemme has been wrongfully incarcerated for the last 42 years."

GIST: "Sandra “Sandy” Hemme has spent more than four decades in prison for a crime that evidence supports she did not commit, making her the longest-known wrongly incarcerated woman in the U.S.

Although Ms. Hemme, now 63, has spent the majority of her life wrongfully imprisoned, she has never given up hope that her name would one day be cleared.

In late February 2023, Ms. Hemme’s attorneys filed a petition for habeas relief in the 43rd Circuit Court of Livingston County based on compelling new evidence of her innocence.

This new evidence was withheld by the State for decades and pointed to a police officer as the person who committed the crime.

Here are key facts you should know about her case:

1. Ms. Hemme, who had no connection to the victim, was a psychiatric patient receiving treatment when she was targeted by police. At the time of Ms. Jeschke’s death, Ms. Hemme, then 20, was a patient at St. Joseph’s State Hospital receiving treatment for auditory hallucinations, derealization, and drug misuse. Ms. Hemme had spent the majority of her life starting at age 12 in inpatient psychiatric treatment.

2. Ms. Hemme was repeatedly interviewed by police under extremely coercive circumstances. Police conducted hours-long interviews with Ms. Hemme while she was in the hospital. At some points, she was so heavily medicated that she was unable to even hold her head up and was restrained and strapped to a chair. Over the course of these coercive interrogations, Ms. Hemme’s statements conflicted with the known facts of the crime and were internally inconsistent. More than 10% of exonerated people were wrongly convicted in cases involving false confessions.

3. Ms. Hemme’s lawyer presented no witnesses at her trial, which lasted just one day. The jury never heard about the profoundly coercive circumstances under which police obtained her statements. Those statements were the only “evidence” against her at trial.

4. The jury also never heard about the crime scene evidence that supported Ms. Hemme’s innocence. Ms. Hemme was excluded as a source of all the hairs and fingerprints taken from the crime scene. There was no physical, forensic, or eyewitness evidence that linked her to the victim or the crime scene.

7. Witnesses could not corroborate Officer Holman’s alibi. Officer Holman claimed he was at a motel adjacent to the victim’s home during the time of the murder with a woman named Mary. However, when asked by police he refused to give details about Mary or the motel room they both stayed in. All three witnesses from the motel and attached gas station told police they did not remember seeing Officer Holman or Mary that day.

8. This isn’t the first time the St. Joseph police wrongfully targeted and convicted a person with a mental health illness or disability that made them uniquely vulnerable to falsely confessing. In 1979, 24-year-old Melvin Lee Reynolds, who also spent time at St. Joseph’s State Hospital, was convicted of the 1978 murder of a 4-year-old boy. Many of the same officers who worked on Ms. Hemme’s case also worked on Mr. Reynolds’ case. And much like in Ms. Hemme’s case, officers obtained an alleged confession — a statement that did not align with the known facts of the crime — from Mr. Reynolds after interrogating him repeatedly. Four years later, Mr. Reynolds was exonerated.

Ms. Hemme is represented by Innocence Project Senior Staff Attorney Jane Pucher, Staff Attorney Andrew Lee, and Post-Conviction Litigation Fellow Natalie Baker. She is also represented by Missouri-based attorney Sean O’Brien."

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The entire release can be read at:

https://innocenceproject.org/who-is-sandra-hemme-innocence-facts/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;

SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985

FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."

Lawyer Radha Natarajan:

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!

Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:

David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.”

https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-1234880143/

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