After 43 years of conviction, the truth is revealed for her to be acquitted

In what is now the longest known wrongful conviction of a woman in U.S. history, a Livingston Circuit Judge overturned the previous prison sentence of 63-year-old Sandra “Sandy” Hemme, after she served 43 years in prison for murder.

Livingston County Circuit Judge Ryan Horsman on Friday found "clear and convincing" evidence of Sandra Hemme's innocence in the murder of Patricia Jeschke, a bookstore worker in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Hemi was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1980, after Hemi made incriminating statements to the police when she was mentally ill, according to the British newspaper The Guardian.

Judge Horsman ruled that "direct evidence" linked Jeschke's killing to a local police officer who later went to prison for another crime and has since died. The judge said Hemi, who has spent the last 43 years behind bars, should be released within 30 days unless prosecutors decide to retry her.

The ruling followed an evidentiary hearing in January, where Hemi's legal team presented arguments in support of her evidence. Hemi's attorneys at the "Innocence Project", a criminal justice nonprofit, said Hemi's prison term represents the longest known wrongful conviction of a woman in U.S. history.

“We are grateful to the court for recognizing the grave injustice that Ms. Hime has suffered for more than 4 decades,” her lawyers said in a statement.

Source News : Sky News Al-arabiya - https://bintjbeil.org/post/71101/%D8%A3%D8%B7%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%A5%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%A9-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B7%D8%A6%D8%A9-%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A3%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF-43-%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A7