A judge has overturned the conviction of a Missouri woman who was a psychiatric patient when she incriminated herself in a 1980 killing that her attorneys argue was actually committed by a now-discredited police officer.

Judge Ryan Horsman ruled late Friday that Sandra Hemme, who has spent 43 years behind bars, had established evidence of actual innocence and must be freed within 30 days unless prosecutors retry her. He said her trial counsel was ineffective and prosecutors failed to disclose evidence that would have helped her.

Her attorneys say this is the longest time a women has been been incarcerated for a wrongful conviction. They filed a motion seeking her immediate release.

    • SOMETHINGSWRONG@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      5 months ago

      Prosecutors, district attorneys, and judges all have a very close relationship with cops. Cops are what physically keep the bodies coming into the prison industrial complex and the rest of the system has political and monetary incentives to keep the treadmill going.

      This is why leftists lump them together when saying “ACAB”. The purpose of a system is what it does, and this is impossible to do without the cooperation of those three parties.

      This is why you don’t talk to a cop. By initiating a conversation with you, they have already begun acting in bad faith.

      It doesn’t matter what lies they legally spew at you, how friendly they act, etc. If a cop talks to you, they are trying to nail you to a cross.

    • Samvega@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      5 months ago

      The human world isn’t about what’s true. The human world is about what feels good, specifically for the people who get to make those decisions.

      If the people in power decide that marrying children feels good, they will bring it back. It doesn’t matter that we say it’s immoral, they will do it.

      • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Well feels before reals may be an issue, but when someone’s job depends on being “tough on crime” and closing cases you have an issue of someone placing their image and paycheck above someone’s life.