Midwest Innocence Project

In June, a judge overturned Hemme’s conviction for the 1980 murder of a librarian from St. Joseph, Missouri. After five months of legal battles, the same judge signed the final order granting her freedom.

For the first time in more than four decades, Sandra Hemme may get to spend Thanksgiving with her family — not in prison. Hemme was wrongly convicted of murdering a St. Joseph librarian in 1980, but a Missouri judge overturned the charges this year.

The Missouri Court of Appeals heard oral arguments Wednesday in the innocence case of Sandra Hemme, who served 43 years in prison — more time than any other wrongly convicted woman in the U.S.

At the age of 18, Chris Dunn was sentenced to life in prison for a crime he says he didn't commit. It would take two key witnesses recanting and a new state law to free him — even as the Missouri Attorney General worked to keep him behind bars.

Without intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court, Marcellus Williams will be executed after 6 p.m. Tuesday. Gov. Mike Parson has said he will not grant clemency to Williams.

Williams is set to be executed Tuesday for the 1998 killing of Felicia Gayle, a crime that he has always denied any role in. His attorneys have launched multiple legal battles in an attempt to save his life.

Without intervention from Gov. Mike Parson or the U.S. Supreme Court, Marcellus Williams will be executed Sept. 24. Williams was nearly saved from death row after prosecutors and attorneys reached a plea deal for life in prison, but it was later withdrawn.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office is opposing the release of Howard Roberts after a Greene County circuit judge ordered a retrial. This is the third time this summer that Bailey has opposed the release of a prisoner whose conviction was vacated.

Christopher Dunn, whom a Missouri judge ruled was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for more than 30 years, remains in prison after a series of court rulings Wednesday. The Missouri Attorney General has been pushing to keep Dunn and other wrongfully convicted prisoners behind bars.

Christopher Dunn's situation is similar to that of Sandra Hemme, who spent 43 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of a woman in 1980 before her conviction was overturned. In both cases, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has fought to keep them in prison.

Dunn was convicted of murder and assault in 1991, largely on the testimony of two boys who later recanted, saying they were coerced by police and prosecutors. But Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office plans to appeal, which would likely block Dunn’s release.

Sandra Hemme has spent 43 years in Missouri prison for a grisly 1980 murder that her lawyers say was actually committed by a police officer. A judge overturned her conviction last week, but the Missouri Attorney General is seeking to block her from being freed.