In a shocking sequence of events, the Missouri Supreme Court has sided with Attorney General Andrew Bailey to keep Christopher Dunn, a Black man wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for over three decades, behind bars.
This decision came despite overwhelming evidence of his innocence and a judge’s order for his immediate release.
The saga began when St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Jason Sengheiser ruled that Dunn, 52, should be freed by 6 p.m. CDT Wednesday, after two separate judges found him innocent of the crime for which he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Dunn was convicted in 1990 for the shooting death of 14-year-old Ricco Rogers, based solely on the testimony of two young boys who later recanted, claiming they were coerced by police.
Dunn’s attorney, Justin Bonus, expressed outrage at the state’s actions, stating, “Christopher Dunn has been found innocent by two separate judges after both judges hearing the evidence before them. He remains in prison, an innocent man, with his conviction overturned. This is a travesty of justice.”
He added: “The AG should not be fighting Judge Sengheiser’s decision. Their job is not to fight to uphold convictions, but to seek justice. That is not what is happening here.”
The heartbreak of the situation was palpable as Dunn’s family, including his wife Kira Dunn, awaited his release. At one point, Dunn was reportedly outside the prison, waiting to be picked up by his wife. However, their hopes were slashed when the Missouri Supreme Court ruled against his release while he was signing paperwork for his freedom.
“If you know a little about the story, you know we’ve had a lot of disappointments where we thought we’d finally get his freedom and it was snatched away,” Kira Dunn told the Associated Press. “So we were just bracing ourselves.”
The Missouri Supreme Court’s decision to keep Dunn incarcerated stems from a 2016 ruling that only death row inmates could make a “freestanding” claim of actual innocence. Despite new state laws enacted in 2021 allowing prosecutors to seek hearings for potentially wrongfully convicted individuals, Christopher Dunn remains in prison due to AG Bailey’s appeal against his release.
Bailey, appointed by the governor in 2023, has a controversial history of resisting court orders for the release of inmates whose convictions have been overturned. In a previous case, he ignored a judge’s ruling to release Sandra Hemme, a 64-year-old woman who spent 43 years in prison for a murder she did not commit. It was only after a judge threatened him with contempt of court that she was freed.
In Dunn’s case, the Missouri Supreme Court’s siding with Bailey has been met with widespread condemnation. “We are devastated and so confused as to why the Missouri Supreme Court entertained the Attorney General’s improper intrusion into a matter already settled by a judge. Chris was literally a few steps away from freedom when the call came,” Kira Dunn said. “This is unimaginably cruel treatment of a proven innocent person. It is torture. It is pointless. It is a perversion of what justice should be in Missouri.”
The case has sparked national outrage and brought attention to the ongoing struggle for justice within the American legal system, particularly for people of color. As the legal battle continues, the hope for Dunn’s release remains ongoing.
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