Appeals court orders release of woman whose murder conviction was reversed after 43 years in prison

— An appellate court has ordered the release of a Missouri woman whose murder conviction was overturned after she served 43 years in prison, but the state attorney general is still trying to keep her behind bars as the case is reviewed. Monday’s ruling by a panel of appeals court judges comes after a judge ruled that Sandra Hemme’s attorneys had established “clear and convincing evidence” of “actual innocence.” Judge Ryan Horsman said on June 14 that she must be freed within 30 days unless prosecutors decide to retry her. “This Court finds that the totality of the evidence supports a finding of actual innocence.” But Bailey then sought a delay in Hemme’s release to allow an appellate court review, saying she represents a safety risk to herself or others, citing a 1990s attack on a prison worker and statements she made decades ago about enjoying violence, and arguing that the evidence she presented is not “newly discovered,” so “Hemme did not meet the actual innocence standard as a matter of law.” The Buchanan County prosecutor’s office, which tried the case, didn’t respond to requests for comment. An FBI report also found that a hair found on the victim’s bedsheet had “microscopic characteristics similar to Holman’s head hair samples and he could not be eliminated as the source.” Jurors never heard these details because the police never shared them with prosecutors, the judge found. “This Court finds that the evidence shows that Ms. Hemme’s statements to police are so unreliable and that the evidence pointing to Michael Holman as the perpetrator of the crime so objective and probative that no reasonable juror would find Ms. Hemme guilty,” Horsman concluded.