Attorneys for Sandra Hemme file new motion for her release

By Chris Fortune

Sandra Hemme’s attorneys are working tirelessly to enforce a judge’s order for her release after it was countered.

Some media outlets reported that Hemme was set to be released from the Chillicothe Correctional Center on Wednesday, but she has not been released pending a challenge from the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.

Hemme’s legal counsel filed a new motion Wednesday with the Western District Court of Appeals to enforce its July 9 order from Judge Ryan Horsman.

The July 9 court order gave conditions for Hemme’s release:

She must live with her sister and brother-in-law.

She must refrain from using alcohol and any controlled substance that hasn’t been prescribed to her.

She must obtain a mental health evaluation and follow all recommendations.

Horsman ruled that Hemme’s attorneys provided clear evidence of her innocence and that she should be set free unless prosecutors wanted to retry her.

The Attorney General’s Office filed a notice stating two prior convictions prevented her release. Hemme’s counsel said the claim is without merit because Hemme’s prior convictions — which ran consecutive to the sentence vacated by the court — have been satisfied for almost 20 years.

Hemme was convicted in the 1980 murder of St. Joseph woman Patricia Jeschke, and she served 43 years in prison — the longest time a woman has been incarcerated for a wrongful conviction in the U.S., according to her attorneys.

Hemme’s counsel is in Chillicothe, Missouri, where Hemme is imprisoned. They continue to work toward her release.