State admits that only physical evidence leading to conviction was false; three jurors support case.

MISSOURI — Michael Politte, who has spent 23 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted at 14 years old for his own mother’s murder, has filed a petition with the Missouri Supreme Court alleging state misconduct, asserting his innocence and asking them to re-open his case.

“How did I end up in prison? Because this judicial system is overseen by flawed human beings who do not want to admit they got anything wrong. They do not want to admit that they wrongfully convicted a 14-year-old for murdering his own mother,” said Michael Politte. You can hear from Michael directly here (short video).

Politte was 14 years old when he woke to the smell of smoke and found his mother dead and on fire in their home. The only physical evidence that ever allegedly connected Michael to this crime – the presence of gasoline on his shoes – has now been proven false. 

Today, even the State concedes the evidence is false. It has been scientifically proven that what was thought to be gasoline was in fact an aromatic solvent used in the manufacture of tennis shoes. Furthermore, the State has acknowledged that it should have known it was false when Mike went to trial. Yet, the State presented the evidence to the jury as if it was infallible, scientifically certain evidence. Michael is entitled to be released on this basis alone — his conviction rests on false evidence and the State knew it. 

“At trial, the State repeatedly told the jurors that the fire was started by gasoline and that testing proved gasoline was on Michael’s shoes,” said Mark Emison, a partner at Langdon & Emison and co-counsel for Mr. Politte. “Science proves the State’s evidence was false, and now nearly 20 years after the trial, the State finally admits the evidence was false.” 

Yet, on September 1st, 2021, the Court of Appeals denied Politte’s petition without even a cursory explanation. This is the same court that held in 2016 that innocence is only a claim to overturn a conviction if someone has been sentenced to death in the case of Rodney Lincoln.

“Michael’s continued journey through the court system highlights the system’s emphasis on finality over fairness,” said Tricia Rojo Bushnell, the Executive Director of the Midwest Innocence Project and an attorney for Politte. “The Attorney General’s office has acknowledged the evidence presented at trial was false, but is still fighting Michael’s chance to have a day in court. That is not justice.”

Now, as Politte takes his fight to the state Supreme Court, there is even more evidence of a clear miscarriage of justice. Three jurors from Politte’s trial have submitted affidavits in support of his case. One juror, Linda Dickerson-Bell, makes clear she would vote to acquit if she had known then what she knows now. For her, the “gasoline was the whole case,” “it was the nail in the coffin.” She laments, “After learning about the new evidence, my guilt has only grown. I now firmly believe Michael is innocent and that we made a terrible mistake.”

Politte’s attorneys are asking the state Supreme Court to review his case and overturn his conviction on the basis of clear constitutional violations. The request centers not only on the evidence of his innocence but of the numerous constitutional violations that paved the way for his wrongful conviction, including the State’s knowing reliance on false evidence. The petition also details defense counsel’s failure to challenge the arson and accelerant evidence and his failure to investigate much more likely alternative perpetrators,  in violation of Michael’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel. At a minimum, Politte’s attorneys are asking the Court to appoint a Special Master to take a close look at this case.

“The State’s prioritization of finality over fairness is premised on protecting the jury’s verdict. The jurors themselves believe he is innocent and want their verdict reversed,” said Megan Crane, Politte’s attorney & Co-Director of the MacArthur Justice Center’s Missouri office. “Each of the tests for our constitutional claims asks if the violation made a difference at trial, if the result would have been different. These jurors make the answer obvious.”

Even before the State’s evidence was scientifically disproven, the case against Michael was flimsy from the start.  At 14, Politte was immediately targeted by police; he was the only family member home at the time and he did not act the way police thought he should. Within hours of his mother’s death, the 14-year-old was interrogated multiple times, by four different law enforcement officers, over the course of the next 48 hours, without sleep, an attorney or the assistance of an impartial adult.

Instead of the traumatized child he was, police decided Michael was a “remorseless, cold-blooded killer”, a description they would later use against him in court. But science has long since proven that children’s brains and behavior, as well as their trauma responses, are different from those of adults. A clinical and forensic psychologist has confirmed that Politte’s behavior was not at all abnormal for a child experiencing extreme trauma. Yet, three days after his mother’s death, Politte was placed in police custody. He has been behind bars ever since.

At 14, Michael was certified to go to trial as an adult and ultimately sentenced to life in prison. He has grown up in Missouri’s dangerous adult prison system. 

“While Mike was tried as an adult and sentenced to adult time, he was convicted because of his youth, pure and simple. The reasons he was initially targeted as a suspect and the false narrative the state used to convict him have everything to do with his adolescence,” said Crane. “ The police’s uneducated misjudgment of a traumatized kid paved the way for his wrongful conviction.”

Politte has consistently maintained his innocence. Four years after his arrest, while detained and awaiting trial, he was offered a sweetheart deal by prosecutors that would have secured him release shortly. He refused – unwilling to admit guilt to a crime he did not commit. His family, including his two sisters who also lost their mother, have always maintained his innocence. 

At the same time that the State relied on false evidence to convict Politte, they were actively ignoring substantial evidence that pointed to other viable suspects and would have cast clear doubt for a jury. The foreman of the jury that convicted Michael now says that he believes the jury would not have voted to convict Michael had they heard the evidence about the victim’s contentious divorce and viable alternative suspects.

“For me, the most difficult thing about being in prison is waking up every day in prison, knowing the person who did this crime wakes up every day and does not give it a second thought,” said Mr. Politte. Justice for my family would mean my release and an investigation into my mother’s murder. My mother is not at peace. She will only be at peace once I am released.”

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The Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center is a national, nonprofit legal organization dedicated to protecting civil rights and fighting injustice in the criminal legal system through litigation at the trial, appellate, and Supreme Court levels. www.macarthurjustice.org