wrongful conviction

Michael Politte served 23 years behind bars for a murder he says he didn't commit. He won parole in 2022, but a juror who helped put him in prison won’t rest until Politte's name is cleared.

Christopher Dunn, who was exonerated last year for a wrongful murder conviction, spent 34 years in prison. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has fought against Dunn's release.

Father Emil Kapaun served as an Army chaplain in the Korean war, and was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor. In February, Pope Francis named him "venerable," bringing him one step closer to canonization as a saint. But interest in his life — and traffic to his hometown of Pilsen, Kansas — is already picking up.

Sandra Hemme was freed from prison after 43 years for a murder she didn't commit, and her case illustrates how difficult it is to correct errors in the criminal justice system. That's especially true in Missouri, where the attorney general's office aggressively opposes innocence claims regardless of the evidence.

Freed after more than 43 years in prison, Sandra Hemme’s story illustrates how difficult it is to correct errors when the criminal justice system gets it wrong. In Missouri, the challenge is complicated by an attorney general's office that opposes innocence claims regardless of the evidence.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is asking the state Supreme Court to let him appeal the release of Christopher Dunn, who spent more than 30 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. At the same time, Bailey opposes a bill that would expand who is able to pursue innocence claims.

Sandra Hemme spent 43 years in a Missouri prison for a murder she did not commit. But her case should help others wrongfully convicted win their freedom, because the judges directly addressed the issue of false confessions.

Sandra Hemme spent 43 years in a Missouri prison for a murder she did not commit. Some estimates suggest that a false confession played a role in almost a third of wrongful murder convictions.

Missouri has little support available for exonerees after they're freed, despite the difficulties of obtaining housing, health care or a job. Senate Bill 36 would allow exonerated defendants to claim damages of $179 per day of wrongful imprisonment with a yearly cap of $65,000.

Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree announced Wednesday that he will not seek retrials for Cedric Warren and Dominic Moore because they didn’t receive a fair trial for a 2009 double homicide. Dupree said a former prosecutor was to blame for the wrongful conviction.

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.