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Dale Helmig Is Innocent
Judge grants Habeas relief
DeKalb County Senior Circuit Judge Warren E. McElwain today granted habeas corpus relief to Dale Helmig, finding that Mr. Helmig’s case “presents the rare circumstance in which no credible evidence remains from the first trial to support the conviction” of the 1993 murder of his mother, Norma Dean Helmig. Mr. Helmig’s case for innocence was based in part on the testimony of a former Missouri State Highway Patrolman who retracted his trial testimony that Mr. Helmig tacitly admitted that he killed his mother. Judge McElwain found that Mr. Helmig proved his innocence by clear and convincing evidence, and ordered that he be promptly released or retried. Because the evidence is clear and convincing that Mr. Helmig did not commit this crime, Mr. Helmig’s lawyers are asking the court to release him on his own recognizance pending further proceedings.
Dale Helmig is represented by UMKC Law Professor Sean O’Brien and Midwestern Innocence Project Staff Attorney Ken Blucker. MIP investigator Quinn O’Brien, paralegal Matthew Peters and numerous clinical students at UMKC and MU law schools and the MU School of Journalism were instrumental in the investigation of Dale Helmig’s case.
Calling the circumstantial evidence the state used against Mr. Helmig “thin,” Judge McElwain found that some of the most important evidence in the state’s case was false or non-existent. The judge found that there was no direct evidence tying Mr. Helmig to the crime or placing him at the scene, and there was “important alibi” evidence. The case for Mr. Helmig’s innocence was not based on DNA, but on thorough investigation that included multiple witness interviews by clinical students and a critical review of documentary and physical evidence.
Dale Helmig has been in prison continuously since his conviction in March, 1996. In 2005, a federal judge granted Mr. Helmig a new trial because of jury misconduct, but an appellate court overturned that decision on a procedural technicality. Subsequently, Mr. Helmig’s case caught the attention of John Walsh, who aired a one-hour episode of America’s Most Wanted on May 30, 2009 questioning the integrity of the state’s case and expressing serious doubts that Dale Helmig committed the crime.
The Missouri Attorney General has not yet indicated whether it will not appeal the ruling. The Osage County prosecutor must also determine whether to seek a retrial of the charges. In the meantime, Mr. Helmig’s attorneys are asking that he be released on his own recognizance.
Professor O’Brien believes strongly that Dale Helmig is innocent, and will continue representing Mr. Helmig until his case is finally concluded. Professor O’Brien and Kansas City attorney Bronwyn Werner will represent Mr. Helmig in the event that the prosecution intends to retry the case.
The Midwestern Innocence Project is a joint undertaking by the UMKC School of Law, the University of Missouri School of Law, and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Students from all three schools assisted with Mr. Helmig’s case.
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