KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Years of legal wrangling have come to an end for a woman who spent 43 years behind bars for a killing that her attorneys argue was committed by a discredited police officer.

A judge ruled Tuesday that Sandra Hemme can’t be retried, the final step in a tumultuous journey to making her freedom permanent. Hemme had been the longest-held wrongly incarcerated woman known in the U.S., according to her legal team at the Innocence Project.

She was freed in July but under a cloud as Attorney General Andrew Bailey continued to argue that she should remain imprisoned. Last month, an appellate court found that some arguments raised by Bailey’s office bordered “on the absurd” and sided with the lower court judge that overturned her murder conviction. The ruling gave prosecutors 10 days to refile charges.

Once that time ran out, Hemme’s attorneys filed a motion seeking her “unconditional release.” They had no immediate comment on the decision to grant their request.

Hemme was being treated with heavy doses of antipsychotic drugs when she was first questioned about the 1980 murder of 31-year-old library worker Patricia Jeschke in St. Joseph. One of Hemme’s attorneys, Sean O’Brien, likened the drugs to a “chemical straightjacket” in an October hearing and said they raised questions about her ultimate confession.

O’Brien also outlined evidence that was withheld that pointed to Michael Holman — a former police officer, who died in 2015. Evidence showed that Holman’s pickup truck was seen outside Jeschke’s apartment, that he tried to use her credit card, and that her earrings were found in his home.

Judge Ryan Horsman in Livingston County cited some of that evidence when he found that Hemme’s attorney had established “clear and convincing evidence” of “actual innocence.”

But Bailey asked the appellate court to review Horsman’s decision, leading to a monthlong fight over whether she should be freed while that review took place. A circuit judge, an appellate court and the Missouri Supreme Court all agreed Hemme should be released, but she was still held behind bars as Bailey argued that she still had time to serve on decades-old prison assault cases.

Hemme walked free only after Horsman threatened to hold the attorney general’s office in contempt.

Now it is over. Tuesday’s ruling from Horsman orders her “permanently and unconditionally discharged from custody.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says President-elect Donald Trump is in the “right place” when it comes to his warning of there being “hell to pay” if Hamas doesn’t release their remaining hostages. 

“President Trump put the emphasis in the right place, on Hamas, and not on the Israeli government, as is customary [elsewhere],” Netanyahu said Tuesday at the beginning of a cabinet meeting, according to Reuters. 

Trump on Monday called on Hamas to release all hostages prior to when he takes office on Jan. 20. 

In a Truth Social post, Trump said nothing was being done to free those being held by the Iran-backed terror group since Oct. 7, 2023, after Hamas attacked Israel and killed more than 1,100 people and kidnapped at least 250 others. Of the 101 hostages that remain in Gaza, seven are Americans. 

AMERICAN-ISRAELI IDF PLATOON COMMANDER KILLED IN BATTLE, BODY HELD IN GAZA, IDF SAYS 

“Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East – But it’s all talk, and no action!” Trump wrote.  

“Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity,” Trump added. 

7 US HOSTAGES ARE STILL HELD BY HAMAS TERRORISTS 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes a televised statement on Nov. 26, 2024, in Jerusalem. (Israeli Government Press Office via AP)

The message also drew support from Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Hamas terrorists are still holding 101 hostages in the Gaza Strip. (Yousef Masoud/Majority World/Universal Images Group via Getty Images/File)

“This is the way to bring back the hostages: by increasing the pressure and the costs for Hamas and its supporters, and defeating them, rather than giving in to their absurd demands,” Reuters quoted him as saying. 

Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report. 

Thirty-six members of the European Parliament have opposed hosting an Israeli colleague.

Amit Halevi from Likud, the same party as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was invited by Dutch MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group to participate in a conference on the Iranian regime.

The event, organised by the Israel Alliance Foundation in cooperation with the ECR group, is set to be held in the European Parliament in Brussels at 13.30 local time on Wednesday. 

However, a letter signed by 36 MEPs, obtained by Euronews, urges European Parliament President Roberta Metsola to bar Halevi from attending.

The letter was initiated by Dutch Greens/EFA MEP Tineke Strik, in collaboration with Slovenian Socialist MEP Matjaž Nemec and Irish Renew Europe MEP Barry Andrews. The signatories include members from the Socialists and Democrats, Greens/EFA, Renew Europe, and The Left groups.

Proponents argue that Amit Halevi’s participation in an event at the European Parliament would violate key principles, including disinterest, integrity, openness, diligence, honesty, accountability, and respect for the institution’s dignity and reputation.

The objection stems from “extremely concerning, dehumanizing, and even genocidal statements” that Halevi has made in recent months. The letter highlights several of his controversial remarks from the past year.

In an interview, Halevi claimed, “In the Al-Shifa Hospital, they caught 150 terrorists and killed them. At the same time, 300 terrorists were born in the maternity ward,” implying that children born in Al-Shifa would inevitably become terrorists.

In the same interview, he defended that “There is nothing called Palestinian people, never was, and will never be.” and that  “From the river to the sea, the national rights are only for one people, the nation of Israel”.

In a Facebook post, reported by local newspaper Arutz Sheva, he claimed that all the Palestinian people belong to two categories. “There are Palestinians who support Hamas’s Nazi education and Palestinians who serve as human shields for them. We can and must bomb both.” 

The letter also reminds that Halevi has introduced legislative proposals in the Israeli Knesset to annex and resettle Gaza, while expelling its civilian population. “If each country takes in 5,000-6,000 families, most of the problem is solved”, he said according to Israeli Radio103.

The signatories of the letter have urged President Metsola to “protect the dignity and reputation of this house” by preventing Halevi from joining the panel discussion.

“The president can always limit access to individuals from entering the Parliament by denying that person accreditation”, MEP Nemec told Euronews.

“We also reached out to the organiser but received no concrete reaction as to the possible change of the participants of the event”.

However, MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen, the conference organiser, defends Halevi’s participation and said he is “looking forward to meeting him in the conference tomorrow, with other guests”, in a written reply to Euronews.

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Ruissen’s office further claims that one of the quotes attributed to Halevi in the letter was misreported and that he has never endorsed killing children. 

EP President Roberta Metsola has not commented on the letter yet.