Judge declares injustice on murder conviction in Missouri

 MAYSVILLE,
Mo. CN _ GHN News Editor - An innocent man has been vindicated and a former
Republican congressman, Kenny Hulshof, found responsible for convicting a man of murder by using false evidence and prosecutorial overreach, according to the judge.



Judge
McElwain has overturned the murder conviction of Dale Helmig and has
ordered he be released from prison where he spent 14 years or be retried
immediately.

The
judge found Helmig to be "actually innocent" and a "victim of manifest
injustice."  He had been found guilty of the murder of his mother, and
evidence available, and not produced, refuted that claim.

McElwain
wrote in his comprehensive report that false evidence and overreach of
prosecutors combined with an inept defense counsel were the factors
involved in the injustice of the case. 

"This
case is indeed one of those rare and exceptional cases in which new
evidence demonstrates that the petitioner is actually innocent of the
crime for which he was sentenced to life without the possibility of
parole," McElwain wrote.

A
missing purse was used as evidence that Dale Helmig had killed his
mother, however, the purse was found with personal checks canceled by
her bank, showing that it had not been tossed out a car window as
claimed by prosecutors.    

"The
prosecutor also argued, with no competent evidentiary support, that
petitioner had physically assaulted his mother in a restaurant in an
argument over money three days before she was murdered," McElwain wrote.
"The man involved in the argument was actually Ted Helmig, the victim's
husband.

Hulshof's
actions as a prosecuting attorney have been cited with the presentation
of four death sentence reversals caused by errors in cases where he was
involved.  He protested the recent statements by McElwain with this,
"It is my hope that the authorities will consider all their options
before making a decision whether or not to appeal or retry this case
following this most recent judicial review."

No decision has been made on whether to retry Helmig and his attorney has filed a motion for his release.