Sandra Hemme: Missouri: (False statements made while sedated and receiving treatment for hallucinatory episodes): Major (Welcome) Development: After spending 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. - a Missouri judge ruled on Friday that there is "clear and convincing" evidence that she is innocent, The Kansas City Star (Reporter Katie Moore) reports…"(Judge) Horsman 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 said in the order. A detective admitted that Hemme, who was on anti-psychotic medication and sedatives, was “not totally cognizant of what was going on.” Over a series of interviews while she was hospitalized, she told conflicting stories. At one point, she said a man who picked her up from the hospital was the killer. Investigators discovered he was in a locked detox facility in Kansas at the time of the murder and the capital murder charge against him was dropped."

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 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 physical violence, even physical and mental torture.

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog:

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BACKGROUND: 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. Ms. Hemme was wrongly convicted for the 1980 murder of Patricia Jeschke in St. Joseph, Missouri, after police exploited her mental illness and coerced her into making false statements while she was sedated and receiving treatment for hallucinatory episodes.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. Innocence Project:

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Evidence instead points to Michael Holman, a former St. Joseph police officer who later went to prison for another crime and died in 2015. He was questioned once in Jeschke’s death. Horsman said Holman’s “links to the murder are substantial and objective.” 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 a report about the earrings was never turned over to Hemme’s defense attorney. Three FBI reports on forensic evidence were also not disclosed. Information about Holman’s criminal conduct in the months before and after the murder were also withheld. “The nondisclosure of that evidence resulted in a trial that was fundamentally unfair, resulting in a verdict unworthy of confidence,” Horsman’s order said."

STORY: "MO woman convicted of murder and imprisoned more than 40 years is innocent, judge rules," by Reporter Katie Moore, published by The Kansas City Star, on June 15, 2024. (Katie Moore, an enterprise and accountability reporter, started with The Kansas City Star in 2019. She covers justice issues, including policing, prison conditions and the death penalty. She is a University of Kansas graduate and began her career as a reporter in 2015 in her hometown of Topeka, Kansas.)

GIST: A Missouri judge ruled Friday there is “clear and convincing” evidence that a woman imprisoned for more than four decades in Missouri is innocent.

Attorneys for Sandra “Sandy” Hemme, now 64, immediately moved to free her from Chillicothe Correctional Center. If released, Hemme’s prison term will mark the longest known wrongful conviction of a woman in U.S. history.

Hemme was convicted in a 1980 murder in St. Joseph. In an 118-page memorandum, Livingston County Circuit Judge Ryan Horsman said “evidence directly” ties a now-deceased police officer to the killing of Patricia Jeschke.

His decision comes after a three-day evidentiary hearing in January where Hemme’s legal team presented arguments supporting her innocence. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office fought to uphold her conviction.

The attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to an email and text message sent Saturday morning seeking comment.

Horsman wrote that violations in Hemme’s case occurred in two ways: The state did not hand over exculpatory evidence to Hemme’s defense, resulting in what is known as a Brady violation, and her trial attorney fell “below professional standards.”

Buchanan County prosecutors now have 30 days to decide whether to re-try Hemme or dismiss the charges.

JUDGE’S FINDINGS

Horsman 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 said in the order.

A detective admitted that Hemme, who was on anti-psychotic medication and sedatives, was “not totally cognizant of what was going on.” 

Over a series of interviews while she was hospitalized, she told conflicting stories. At one point, she said a man who picked her up from the hospital was the killer. 

Investigators discovered he was in a locked detox facility in Kansas at the time of the murder and the capital murder charge against him was dropped.

Evidence instead points to Michael Holman, a former St. Joseph police officer who later went to prison for another crime and died in 2015. He was questioned once in Jeschke’s death. Horsman said Holman’s “links to the murder are substantial and objective.”

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 a report about the earrings was never turned over to Hemme’s defense attorney. Three FBI reports on forensic evidence were also not disclosed. Information about Holman’s criminal conduct in the months before and after the murder were also withheld.

“The nondisclosure of that evidence resulted in a trial that was fundamentally unfair, resulting in a verdict unworthy of confidence,” Horsman’s order said.

He also found that Hemme’s trial counsel was ineffective. Her attorney failed to use evidence showing Holman was near Jeschke’s home and did not locate or interview him as an alternative suspect. The attorney also failed to present evidence about Hemme’s psychiatric distress and confusion.

“This court can thus reach the merits of Ms. Hemme’s claims because she is the victim of a manifest injustice,” Horsman wrote.

Hemme has been in prison for more than 43 years.

Horsman could grant Hemme’s release while prosecutors decide if she will be re-tried or if the case will be dismissed. In arguing for her release, her attorneys said she is an elderly woman with health conditions who is not a flight risk. She has family in Missouri who she would reside with.

Several wrongful convictions have been brought to light in recent years in the Kansas City metro. Ricky Kidd, Kevin Strickland and Keith Carnes were exonerated in Kansas City cases. Lamonte McIntyre and Olin “Pete” Coones were freed in Kansas City, Kansas, cases. The five together spent 119 years in prison for crimes they did not commit.

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Here are key facts you should know about her case: (Innocence Project):

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.

5. 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.

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.

https://innocenceproject.org/news/8-facts-about-sandra-hemmes-case-you-need-to-know/

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The entire story can be read at:

 https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article289298935.html

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

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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-12348801

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