something I don't get about Missouri....
I follow the wrongful conviction news fairly closely. I started doing so because I include lectures about the importance of science to real human lives in my classes, and exonerations are full of examples.
So the background - the conviction of a woman named Sandra Hemme was overturned a week or two ago. She was convicted in 1981 of a woman's murder. There was no physical evidence linking her to the crime. All the police had were confessions obtained after lengthy interrogations which any judge would now throw out as worthless. Ms Hemme was suffering from mental health issues, and her statements often disagreed wildly with each other. None of her confessions matched the scene of the crime.
Meanwhile, a police officer was found to have a piece of the murdered woman's jewelry in his possession. He had tried to use one of her credit cards the day her body was found, and his pickup truck was similar to the one reportedly seen at the crime scene. His alibi could not be corroborated.
This had "wrongful conviction" written all over it. Someone with an impaired ability to interact with the police provided confessions, but her claims didn't match the evidence. There was no physical evidence linking her to the crime - no fingerprints, nothing. She had no known connection to the victim. Meanwhile, there's evidence for another suspect who should have at least been questioned. (This is no longer possible, as the officer died several years ago.). But that alternate suspect was a police officer, and in many cases - especially back then - the police have been very reluctant to investigate their own.
So a judge finally did the right thing and overturned her conviction. She was ordered released within 30 days unless she was to be retried.
And the Missouri Attorney General immediately filed an appeal.
What is wrong with the Attorneys General of that state? There's nothing to defend here. We know a lot more about how interrogations work now, and no contemporary jury would convict her, especially if told about the other suspect. Seriously - this just sounds like spitefulness. We were wrong? Just for pointing that out, we're going to pretend we were right and keep you behind bars, because we enjoy seeing people suffer. We're like Pennywise, dementors, or that whirly thing from the original Star Trek series that way.
There have been several high-profile convictions in that state, and every time, the AG went to great (and sometimes absurd) lengths to oppose it. In 2022 or 2023, they even denied that a district attorney even had the legal ability to file for dismissal of charges in cases like this, even if the crime happened in the DA's jurisdiction.
This is a state in which at least one Supreme Court justice said, several years ago, that it's perfectly OK to execute someone known to have been wrongly convicted, just so long as the procedures were followed properly.
In other states, this hasn't been as much of a problem, at least over the past 10 or 15 years. DNA-based exonerations opened many eyes in the criminal justice system. Even Texas has shown a greater capacity for trying to right its wrongs. Missouri really does seem like an outlier when it comes to seeking justice.
Now think about what Ms Hemme is facing. She's been behind bars for 43 years. She'll be the longest-served female exoneree in US history. She's 64 years old. She still suffers from mental health problems and, at her age, her physical health is probably diminished as well. She'll come out with no real job skills, no insurance, very little money (if any), no home, no clothes beyond her prison garb, no credit, no job, no photo ID, and no means of transportation. She'll get out when most people her age are retiring. She won't be able to draw from Social Security, as she wouldn't have paid enough quarters into the system. She's unlikely to have ever used an ATM, much less a computer or a cell phone. She does have surviving family, but the onus shouldn't be on them to support her for the rest of her life.
In my opinion, she's at least owed a pension from the state of Missouri. If she had a job while in prison, she was a state employee and should be granted the same pension as any other state employee.
But with the kinds of vengeful knobs who refuse to admit error who run that state's justice system, she'll be lucky if she gets a penny.
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