KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) — A Missouri woman who spent 43 years in prison before a court overturned her conviction is being released.
Sandra Hemme left the Chillicothe Correctional Facility shortly before 6 p.m. Friday, according to the Associated Press, despite objections from the Missouri attorney general.
A judge ordered Hemme released from jail by 6 p.m.
A judge ruled Friday that the prison must release her within hours or the attorney general will be held in contempt of court. The judge had initially ruled June 14 that Hemme’s lawyers had established “clear and convincing evidence” of “actual innocence.” But Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey challenged her release in court.
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Hemme will have to meet three special conditions after his release:
- She has to live with her sister.
- She must refrain from consuming alcohol or any controlled substance that has not been prescribed to her.
- She must obtain a mental health evaluation and follow any recommendations resulting from that evaluation.
Hemme, now 64, is serving a life sentence after being convicted twice of the 1980 murder of library employee Patricia Jeschke.
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According to her legal team at the Innocence Project, she is now the longest-serving wrongly incarcerated woman in the United States.
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