The Sandra Hemme Story: In the Tall Grass
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What is the background of Sandra Hemme's case?
We had a proceeding where the Attorney General's office was ordered to make sure that Ms. Hemi was released by that evening. And she was met by a number of members of her family, one of her sisters, some nieces and cousins, and her granddaughter. It's a big, beautiful, supportive family who surrounded her. And At the time, her father, who has since passed, was in the hospital. And so the very first thing they did was to get Sandy to go and be able to see her dad at his bedside. And we were very grateful that that was able to happen, because in the midst of this litigation and the efforts to prevent Sandy from being released, as she should have been, there was this really ominous question of whether she was going to get out in time to say goodbye to her father.
Thank you.
If you've been listening to our podcast, you know that we've been reporting on this case for more than a year. And if you're new here, start at the beginning with episode one to better understand where we're at now. In the last episode of the Sandra Hemme story, we broke the news that Sandy's murder conviction was overturned, making her the longest known wrongfully incarcerated woman in U.S. history. The news made headlines everywhere, from the local Kansas City news stations to the BBC to the New York Times.
A Missouri judge ordered Sandra Hemme's release after her murder conviction was overturned last month.
When we heard about Sandy's release from the Chillicothe Correctional Center, we were thrilled to finally be able to speak on record with Sandy's legal team. My producer Allie and I reached out to Sandy's lawyer from the Innocence Project, Jane Pucher.
Do you remember where you were when Sandy's habeas petition was granted? No.
Well, so when relief was granted back in June, I was actually getting on a plane with my family. So I remember that. That was an exciting time to hear that and wonderful news to hear. You know, there have been a lot of big moments in this case, but that was definitely memorable.
Sandy's innocence has been a long time in the making. Nearly 20 years ago, she began reaching out for help.
She wrote to us saying she was innocent. She had been wrongfully convicted. She had nothing to do with this crime and asking for our help. We at the Innocence Project get thousands of letters every year through our intake department from people who are maintaining their innocence. And we are really selective with the cases we take on. We want to take on cases where we are really convinced that the person didn't do the thing they were accused of and also where we think we can be of help. And so it was after a few years of review of her case by our intake department, getting records, trying to figure out what we could learn from, you know, about such an old case that we took it on. And there was one other attorney in my office who worked on her case first.
And then when she left to take on another opportunity, I came on to Sandy's case and I was thrilled to be able to work on it because it is both such a righteous cause, so outrageous and disturbing what happened to her, but also because the more I got to know Sandy and her family, the more compelled I was by them and I am by who they all are and wanting to do whatever I could.
Did Sandy's case feel different than other cases you've worked on?
Every case is a little bit different. I mean, there are, you know, unique stories and challenges and obviously facts to every case. I do think that something that was... uniquely shocking for my practice about this case was just the way that she was questioned and the condition she was in at the time that she was questioned. You know, we had testimony at the hearing from a forensic psychiatrist who explained, you know, that Sandy was as vulnerable as any person could be, was in a medical and psychiatric crisis when questioned. You know, someone who I think today no one would even deign to talk to in that condition. They shouldn't.
As a reminder, the police interrogated Sandy eight times over 12 days while she was undergoing treatment at the St. Joseph State Hospital's psychiatric ward.
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