Appeals court upholds freeing of Sandra Hemme, imprisoned 43 years for murder lower court ruled she didn't commit

An appellate court in Missouri ruled Tuesday that a lower court was right when it decided to overturn the murder conviction of a woman who spent 43 years behind bars for a killing that her attorneys argue was committed by a discredited police officer.

Sandra Hemme was freed in July while the decision to overturn her conviction was reviewed -- at the insistence of Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who argued she should remain imprisoned.

Presiding Judge Cynthia Martin wrote in the scathing 71-page ruling that some arguments raised by Bailey's office bordered "on the absurd." She gave prosecutors 10 days to refile charges.