UPDATE
Jul 24, 2024 4:48 PM CDT
A Missouri judge on Wednesday ordered the release of a man who has spent more than 30 years in prison. St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser issued the order two days after he overturned Christopher Dunn's murder conviction. A state prison ignored a court order to release Dunn, saying Attorney General Andrew Bailey was appealing the reversal, which prompted the judge to hold an emergency hearing, per the AP. Sengheiser on Wednesday said he would hold the warden at the prison in Licking in contempt of court if Dunn is not released by 6pm.
Jul 22, 2024 7:05 PM CDT
A Missouri judge on Monday overturned the conviction of Christopher Dunn, who has spent more than 30 years in prison for a killing he has long contended he didn't commit. The ruling is likely to free Dunn from prison, the AP reports, though it wasn't immediately clear when that would happen. He has been serving a sentence of life without parole. St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser's ruling came several weeks after he presided over a three-day hearing on the case. Dunn, now 52, was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1990 shooting of 15-year-old Ricco Rogers. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore filed a motion in February seeking to vacate the guilty verdict.
Sengheiser, in his ruling, wrote that the "Circuit Attorney has made a clear and convincing showing of 'actual innocence' that undermines the basis for Dunn's convictions because in light of new evidence, no juror, acting reasonably, would have voted to find Dunn guilty of these crimes beyond a reasonable doubt." Dunn's attorney, Midwest Innocence Project Executive Director Tricia Rojo Bushnell, said she was overjoyed by the judge's ruling. "Now, Chris looks forward to spending time with his wife and family as a free man," Bushnell said in a statement.
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The Missouri Attorney General's Office opposed the effort to vacate Dunn's conviction. Lawyers for the state said at a hearing that initial testimony from two boys at the scene who identified Dunn as the shooter was correct, though they later recanted as adults. "That verdict was accurate, and that verdict should stand," Assistant Attorney General Tristin Estep said at the hearing, per the AP. A spokesperson said the attorney general's office will appeal.
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