Update: 5/27/2009: Since this post was written, the state of Missouri appealed the granting of the writ and got the order granting bail reversed. The 8th Circuit reinstated Dale's murder conviction and the U.S. Supreme Court denied cert. America's Most Wanted will feature Dales' case Saturday, May 30, 2009.

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This is the best news I've heard all day. Dale Helmig, who has spent 8 years in prison in Missouri as a result of being convicted of killing his mother, may be out of jail as early as tomorrow.

His attorneys claim the murder trial was tainted by an incomplete police investigation, an inept defense and a prosecutor looking to score political points in an election battle for Congress. That now-former prosecutor, Republican U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof, has rejected any link between the campaign and trial. But a judge in September reversed the conviction after hearing arguments that a highway map jurors used during deliberations contradicted evidence they had seen in court while considered whether Helmig had time to dispose of the body.

The overturning of the conviction is largely due to the work of a law student at the Illinois State University Innocence Project which made a documentary about Dale's case.