Update: Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 3:35 p.m.
A DeKalb County Judge deferred the decision on Dale Helmig’s release to the Missouri Court of Appeals.
Judge McElwain’s decision came after Attorney General Chris Koster said he is going to challenge the Court of Appeals ruling.
Dale Helmig’s attorney Sean O’Brien said McElwain urged Koster to proceed with haste. Ff Koster does not file a writ of Court of Appeals by Nov. 22, McElwain will order Helmig’s release.
See the email sent my Dale Helmig’s Attorney Sean O’ Brien:
“Judge McElwain deferred the decision on the issue of releasing Dale to the Missouri Court of Appeals in light of the Attorney's General announcement that he is going to challenge the ruling in the Court of Appeals. However, he urged the Attorney General to proceed with haste, and adivised the parties that if the Attorney General does not file a writ in the Court of Appeals by November 22, 2010, he will order Mr. Helmig released immediately.
We are continuing to fight for Dale Helmig's release at the earliest possible time. There are no legal grounds to disturb Judge McElwain's finding that the government used perjured testimony to convict an innocent person. Every day that he remains in jail perpetuates this manifest injustice.
Sean O'Brien, Midwestern Innocence Project”
Original Story:
A central Missouri man whose 1996 murder conviction in his mother's death was overturned last week hopes to leave prison while the state appeals the decision.
Dale Helmig is serving a life sentence for the 1993 death of Norma Helmig. Her body was found tied to a concrete block in a flood-swollen river in Osage County.
A DeKalb County judge ruled one week ago that Helmig is innocent and was a "victim of manifest injustice." Attorney General Chris Koster announced Monday his intent to appeal that decision.
At a bond hearing Wednesday afternoon, Helmig's lawyer plans to ask a judge to release his client on his own recognizance pending a ruling on the state's appeal.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKRCG