A Missouri man was released from jail on Tuesday after his murder conviction was reversed after 34 years behind bars, despite efforts by the state attorney general to keep him there.
“I never gave up because my family never gave up,” Christopher Dunn stated on the steps of the downtown St. Louis courthouse. “It’s easy to give up in prison when you lose faith. But when the system rejects you, you have to decide whether you want to accept it or fight for it.
Dunn, 52, was reunited with his wife, Kira Dunn, after being officially freed from the St. Louis City Jail Tuesday night. As his parole date approached, he was transported by van from the state prison in Licking, Missouri, to St. Louis, almost 140 miles (225 kilometers) away.
On July 22, a St. Louis circuit court reversed Dunn’s murder conviction and ordered that he be released immediately. However, Dunn remained imprisoned throughout a tumultuous process that began when Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed an appeal to keep Dunn in prison.
When asked why the delay since the judge’s decision, Dunn responded, “It was testing. To hear the judge’s verdict and then prepare to depart on Wednesday, only to return to prison. “It was torture.”
Dunn’s release is the second time in recent weeks that a person has been released from jail despite Bailey’s requests to keep them in custody after their murder conviction was reversed.
Sandra Hemme was released from a western Missouri jail on July 19, after spending 43 years for a murder for which a court found proof of her “actual innocence.” Bailey’s administration also opposed Hemme’s release until an appellate court considered the case. She walked out of prison after a judge warned Bailey with contempt if she was not released.
According to political scientists and some attorneys, Bailey’s harsh attitude was intended to shore up votes ahead of a disputed Republican primary. Will Scharf, an attorney for former President Donald Trump, will challenge him in the August 6 primary.
Dunn was about to be released from prison last week when the circuit judge, Jason Sengheiser, threatened a warden with contempt if he wasn’t. But then the Missouri Supreme Court decided to hear the case, temporarily suspending his liberty.
Then, on Tuesday, the state’s highest court ruled that the St. Louis circuit attorney must declare that there are no intentions to retry Dunn before he may be released. Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore quickly filed a memorandum saying that he would not seek a new trial, initiating the process of Dunn’s release.
The Midwest Innocence Project stated that Dunn “is coming home.”
“We are thrilled that Chris will finally be reunited with his family after 34 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit,” according to a statement. “We look forward to supporting Chris as he rebuilds his life.”
Earlier Tuesday, leaders of the Missouri NAACP and other organizations accused Bailey of using politics and bigotry to keep Dunn in prison. At a news conference, State NAACP President Nimrod Chapel Jr. stated that Bailey “superseded his jurisdiction and authority” by appealing Sengheiser’s decision.
“What’s happening now is another form of lynching,” said Zaki Baruti of the Universal African People’s Organisation.
Bailey’s office previously stated that the campaign to keep Dunn in prison was justified.
“Throughout the appeals process, multiple courts have affirmed Christopher Dunn’s murder conviction,” according to the announcement. “We will always fight for the rule of law and to obtain justice for victims.”
Dunn was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1990 killing of Ricco Rogers, who was 15 years old. In February, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore filed a motion to vacate the guilty judgment. A hearing was held in May.
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Sennheiser ruled that Gore “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.”
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office resisted efforts to overturn Dunn’s conviction. At the May hearing, state lawyers stated that the initial testimony of two youths at the scene who identified Dunn as the gunman was correct, even though they would recant as adults.
Rogers was shot on May 18, 1990, when a gunman opened fire on him and a group of other adolescent guys outside a home. DeMorris Stepp, 14, and Michael Davis Jr., 12, first identified Dunn as the shooter.
In a videotaped interview shown during the hearing, Davis admitted to lying because he believed Dunn was linked with a rival gang.
Stepp’s story has evolved a few times over the years, Gore stated during the hearing. Most recently, he stated that he did not see Dunn as the shooter. Gore said that another court had already deemed Stepp to be a “completely unreliable witness” and begged Sennheiser to dismiss him entirely.
Dunn claims he was at his mother’s house at the time of the incident. Nicole Bailey, a childhood acquaintance, testified that she spoke with him on the phone that night when he was at his mother’s house.
Tristin Estep, the associate attorney general, stated that the alibi could not be trusted and that Dunn’s version had changed several times over the years. Dunn did not testify during the hearing.
A Missouri statute enacted in 2021 allows prosecutors to request hearings when they discover evidence of a wrongful conviction. While Bailey’s office is not compelled to oppose such efforts, he did oppose another campaign in St. Louis that ended in Lamar Johnson’s release last year after spending 28 years in a murder case in which a judge decided he had been wrongly convicted.
The 2021 law resulted in the release of two prisoners who had served decades in jail. In addition to Johnson, Kevin Strickland was released in 2021 after more than 40 years in prison for three killings in Kansas City after a judge found that he had been wrongly convicted in 1979.
Marcellus Williams, who narrowly avoided lethal injection and is now scheduled for execution, is about to have another hearing.
The prosecutor for St. Louis County says DNA evidence reveals Williams did not conduct the crime that led to his death sentence. Experts stated DNA from someone else — not Williams — was detected on the knife used in the 1998 killing.
The hearing on Williams’ innocence claim begins on August 21. His execution is slated for September 24.
Bailey’s office also opposes the challenge to Williams’ conviction.