Sandra Hamme, 63, is serving the longest false conviction in US history
A Missouri woman who spent more than 40 years in prison for murder has had her conviction overturned. The Guardian reported this.
That’s because Judge Ryan Horsman of Livingston County, Missouri found “clear and convincing” evidence that Sandra Hamme did not kill the library worker.
It is known that in 1980, local librarian Patricia Jeschke was murdered in St. Joseph, Missouri.
Sandra pleaded guilty to the crime to avoid the death penalty. The verdict was later overturned, but in 1985 a one-day trial took place, where the only evidence against the woman was her “confession.” As a result of the trial, the woman was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Hamme’s lawyers said the 20-year-old woman suffered from auditory hallucinations, derealization and drug use during the murder investigation. Sandra spent a significant portion of her life, beginning at age 12, in inpatient psychiatric treatment.
During interrogations, Hamme gave conflicting testimony about the killing while on antipsychotic medication, attorneys said.
“At some point he was so under the influence of the drug that he could not lift his head and was tied to a chair,” they said.
Detectives confirmed that the girl always seemed “confused” and could not fully understand the question. At some point, law enforcement officers were forced to stop the interrogation because his behavior was inconsistent.
Attorneys believe authorities at the time withheld evidence implicating 22-year-old police officer Michael Holman, even though his car was near the crime scene and he had the victim’s earring.
The former officer went to prison for another crime, where he died in 2015.
Therefore, Hamme, who has spent the last 43 years behind bars, should be released within 30 days.
“We are grateful to the Court for recognizing the grave injustice that Ms. Hamme has suffered for more than four decades,” her lawyers said in a statement.
It was previously reported that one of the stars of the Netflix documentary series died at the age of 29 just 30 days before its release.
New York plans to build a skyscraper prison
New Correspondent.net on Telegram and WhatsApp. Subscribe to our channels Athletistic and WhatsApp
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.