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POTOSI, Mo. — Linda Dickerson-Bell’s quest to undo the worst decision she’s ever made began when Michael Politte was still in prison.

She helped put him there.

More than two decades ago, Dickerson-Bell was on the jury that convicted Politte of setting a fire that killed his mother, Rita. Politte was 14 when his mom died. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He said then he didn’t do it. He maintains his innocence. Dickerson-Bell now believes him.

A few years ago, Dickerson-Bell exorcised her conscience. She never felt right about the jury verdict. She no longer believed Politte was guilty, and she was hardly alone. When I first talked to Dickerson-Bell about four years ago, she had signed an affidavit attached to a legal petition seeking to free Politte from prison.

“I firmly believe,� she wrote at the time, “that we made a terrible mistake.�

The evidence was piling up that Politte was the victim of a bad prosecution. Multiple jurors believed they reached the wrong conclusion. One of the first deputies to investigate the case believed it was badly handled. The science that convicted Politte, by suggesting his tennis shoes had remnants of gasoline on them, had been debunked, even before he went to trial.

The petition seeking his release failed. But three years ago, Politte walked out of prison, paroled in part because of a U.S. Supreme Court decision saying juveniles should be treated differently than adults. A new law in Missouri that allowed parole in more cases also played a role.

On Tuesday, Dickerson-Bell organized like-minded folks to stand in front of the Washington County Courthouse. They wanted to convince Prosecuting Attorney John Jones IV to take action to overturn Politte’s original conviction. Dickerson-Bell held a sign that read, “Ethical duties can’t be ignored,� urging Jones to act.

“I’d like for him to meet with me and go over why I believe Mr. Politte is innocent,� Dickerson-Bell told me. “He has failed to answer any of my emails or visits to his office.�

The person who held the prosecutor’s office before Jones — Joshua Hedgecorth — filed a motion in May 2022 to set aside the verdict convicting Politte. Hedgecorth was relying on a new state law at the time that has now been used by several prosecutors to free innocent men and women, including Lamar Johnson, Christopher Dunn and Kevin Strickland. Johnson, who was exonerated in 2023, joined Dickerson-Bell at Tuesday’s rally.

After Hedgecorth filed his motion to vacate Politte’s conviction, Attorney General Andrew Bailey convinced the Missouri Supreme Court that the new hearing had to take place in St. Francois County, where the original trial was held. The case was moved. Later, Hedgecorth lost his election. Then the St. Francois County prosecutor recused himself and in January asked that Jones, now the Washington County prosecutor, appoint a special prosecutor to study the case.

The case has sat in limbo since then.

The conviction hangs over Politte, even as he has spent the past three years going about his life. He’s working construction and recently got promoted to foreman for a solar farm project near Bowling Green.

He drives to work in his new truck — a 2025 Chevy Z-21. “It’s my first new vehicle,� he told me. It had 8 miles on it when he drove it off the lot.

Indeed, after spending most of his young adult life in prison, the 41-year-old is experiencing lots of new firsts. He’s saving money to buy his first house. He’s spending time with Heather Collins, his girlfriend, another first after spending 23 years in prison. Collins, who was at the rally Tuesday wearing a pink shirt with the phrase “Xoner8� on it, first met Politte in middle school. They re-connected shortly after Politte was paroled.

The ‘first’ that Politte would really like to experience is a taste of total freedom. Because of the conviction, Politte is on parole for the rest of his life — unless Jones takes up the case or appoints a special prosecutor.

“I’m putting in my work to do what I’m supposed to be doing,� Politte says. “It seems they don’t want to correct anything because they know they’re at fault. They’re going to do everything in their power to avoid accountability.�

He’s not wrong. The state’s attorney general — both Bailey and Eric Schmitt before him — have opposed every innocence case brought under the state law, which allows prosecutors to address past errors. Most recently, Bailey convinced the Missouri Supreme Court to allow him to appeal Dunn’s case. So while Dunn has been a free man since a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ judge last year overturned his 1991 murder conviction, there’s still a chance an appeals court could order him back to prison.

Politte’s lawyers, including Megan Crane of the , Tricia Rojo Bushnell of the , and the , have produced a massive amount of evidence pointing to Politte’s innocence. They have so much evidence that Hedgecorth, the former Washington County prosecutor, believed he had no choice but to try to vacate the conviction.

“Given that the evidence underlying Mr. Politte’s conviction has been scientifically proven false, the Prosecuting Attorney is duty-bound to move to vacate his conviction,� he wrote in the motion to set aside the verdict.

For Crane, after the Missouri Supreme Court dismissed Politte’s petition without comment, this is the best avenue for him to regain total freedom and a clean record.

“It is extraordinary that a juror who convicted Mike is holding a public rally, fighting for justice and accountability,� Crane told me. “It is a powerful illustration of the ripple effects of the trauma of a wrongful conviction. Mike has built a beautiful life for himself since his release on parole, but the reality is he cannot be truly free until he is exonerated.�

Politte stayed away from the rally on Tuesday. He had to work, and he didn’t think it was right for him to be there, even though he’s appreciative of Dickerson-Bell’s advocacy. He hopes that someday soon, he’ll be able to drive his new truck to work without worrying that one wrong turn or one speeding ticket can send him back to prison to finish out his wrongful sentence.

“It’s very important that I get this overturned,� Politte says.

All he wants is a hearing, as allowed by law, to prove his innocence once and for all.

“Why won’t the state listen to the jurors that they selected to give me due process?� he asks. “It’s frustrating.�