Christopher Dunn has been locked up in Missouri for more than 30 years, accused of a murder he says he didn’t do. He almost got his freedom when a court judge overturned his conviction and ordered his release on Wednesday. But the state Supreme Court overruled the judge when the attorney general asked for a stay.
In just a few weeks, this is the second time in a row that Missouri’s Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey has fought a court order to free a prisoner who was found to have been wrongfully convicted.
Sandra Hemme, 64, was the longest-held wrongfully incarcerated woman in the U.S. until her sentence was overturned last month. However, Bailey then filed an appeal to keep her in jail. She was finally freed on July 19 after a judge said the attorney general’s office would be held in contempt of court.
Dunn, who is now 52 years old, was 18 years old when he was charged with killing 15-year-old Ricco Rogers on the night of May 18, 1990.
When Dunn was found guilty of first-degree murder, two young witnesses who said they saw the shooting were very important to the case. There was no physical proof linking Dunn to the shooting. Later, when they were adults, those witnesses, who were 12 and 14 years old, said they lied because prosecutors and cops forced them to.
Monday, St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser overturned Dunn’s conviction. This came after St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore filed a motion in February to overturn the guilty decision.
The decision from Sengheiser said, “The State of Missouri shall immediately discharge Christopher Dunn from its custody.” This is what The Associated Press reported.
When Bailey asked for an emergency stay, Sengheiser said Dunn had to be freed by Wednesday at 6 p.m., but the move was stopped by the state’s highest court.
The order from the state Supreme Court says that Sengheiser has until Friday at 5 p.m. to make suggestions against Bailey’s move for the stay, and Bailey has until Monday at 5 p.m. to make suggestions in response.
Dunn’s lawyer, Justin Bonus, said that his team was working on a response to the request from the attorney general.
Furthermore, Bonus told NBC News that Christopher Dunn had been found not guilty by two different judges who had looked at the evidence. “He is still in prison, even though his conviction was overturned. He is innocent.” The way things are now is not fair.
“The AG should not be fighting what Judge Sengheiser said.” Their job is to look for justice, not to fight to keep their sentences. “That’s not what’s going on here,” Bonus said.
The group that worked to free Dunn and Hemme said in a statement on X, “Chris’ legal team hoped and expected him to be released this evening.” But at the request of the Attorney General and less than an hour before Chris was supposed to be released, the Missouri Supreme Court put off the order to free Chris and asked for more information.
“Unfortunately, Chris will have to stay in jail at the South Central Correctional Facility while his lawyers continue to try to get him released.”
NBC News has asked the attorney general’s office and Dunn’s lawyers for their thoughts.
The choice was upsetting for Dunn’s family.
“We are heartbroken and don’t understand why the Missouri Supreme Court allowed the Attorney General to get involved in a case that had already been decided by a judge.” “Chris was only a few steps away from freedom when the call came,” Kira Dunn, Dunn’s wife, told St. Louis-based NBC station KSDK. “This is unbelievably cruel to do to someone who has been proven innocent.” It’s really bad. It doesn’t matter. The way justice should work in Missouri is messed up.
