— A woman whose murder conviction was overturned after she served 43 years in prison was released Friday, after Missouri’s attorney general fought for more than a month to keep her behind bars.
The judge originally ruled on June 14 that Hemme’s attorneys had established “clear and convincing evidence” of “actual innocence” and overturned the conviction.
He also scolded Bailey’s office for calling the warden and telling prison officials not to release Hemme after an appeals court panel said she could be released.
The Missouri Corrections Department then confirmed Hemme, whose been in prison for 43 years, would be released before 6 p.m. CDT Friday.
The rest of her family members were with Hemme’s father, who was hospitalized with kidney failure and moved to palliative care.
“I’ve never seen it,” said Michael Wolff, a former Missouri Supreme Court judge and professor and dean emeritus of Saint Louis University Law School.
She’s been the longest-held wrongly incarcerated woman known in the U.S., according to her legal team at the Innocence Project. »
