Three courts agree that a woman deemed wrongfully convicted should be freed. She still isn’t.

A circuit judge, an appellate court and the Missouri Supreme Court agree that a woman whose murder conviction was overturned should be free after 43 years in prison.

Yet Sandra Hemme is still behind bars, leaving her lawyers and legal experts puzzled.

“I’ve never seen it,” said Michael Wolff, a former Missouri Supreme Court judge and professor and dean emeritus of Saint Louis University Law School. “Once the courts have spoken, the courts should be obeyed.”

The lone holdup to freedom for the 64-year-old woman is opposition from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who has filed court actions seeking to force her to serve additional years for decades-old prison assault cases. The warden at the Chillicothe Correctional Center has declined to let Hemme go, based on Bailey’s actions.

Circuit Judge Ryan Horsman ruled on June 14 that “the totality of the evidence supports a finding of actual innocence.” A state appeals court ruled on July 8 ruled that Hemme should be set free. The Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday declined to undo the lower court rulings that allowed her to be released on her own recognizance and placed with her sister and brother-in-law.

Bailey, a Republican facing opposition in the Aug. 6 primary election, responded with another appeal filed late Thursday asking the Circuit Court to reconsider. It’s unclear if it will. Meanwhile, a judge in Chillicothe has scheduled an afternoon hearing in the case.

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