ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis man waits in a state prison, while his overturned conviction is in limbo.
This week, Christopher Dunn was ready to be a free man after 34 years. A St. Louis judge ordered his release, but now he's behind bars a bit longer.
The Missouri Supreme Court stands in the way at the request of the Missouri Attorney General's Office, on behalf of Attorney General Andrew Bailey.
Christopher Dunn's case
It was May 18, 1990, when three teens were sitting on the porch of a north St. Louis City home. Someone shot 15-year-old Recco Rogers.
The other two teens were eyewitnesses and based on their testimonies, Dunn was convicted in 1991 for first-degree murder. He was served life in prison plus 90 years.
Since then, those witnesses, who were 12 and 14 at the time, recanted their testimonies.
Dunn has maintained his innocence.
In 2020, Texas County Circuit Court Judge William Hickle found there was significant evidence of his innocence.
Yet, he was unable to free Dunn because, in the state of Missouri, only people serving death sentences are eligible to prove innocence and have their conviction overturned.
Missouri is the only state that limits innocence claims by a person’s sentence.
A new statute
In 2021, a new Missouri law allows prosecuting attorneys to request a hearing before a judge, if they see evidence of a wrongful conviction.
That same year, a judge in Kansas City overturned the conviction of Kevin Strickland, who spent four decades in prison for a triple murder case.
In 2022, former St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner looked into Lamar Johnson's case.
In Feb. 2023, Lamar Johnson was exonerated for the murder of Marcus Boyd, after spending nearly 28 years in prison.
In that case, the attorney general's office fought to keep Johnson locked up. A spokesperson for the office sent this statement following the ruling:
“As he stated when he was sworn in, Attorney General Bailey is committed to enforcing the laws as written,” they wrote. “Our office defended the rule of law and worked to uphold the original verdict that a jury of Johnson’s peers deemed to be appropriate based on the facts presented at trial.”
In May 2023, Gardner filed a motion to vacate Dunn's sentence. Days later though, she resigned and Gabe Gore was appointed.
Gore created a conviction integrity unit, a team looking at any claims of innocence. Gore decided to look into Dunn's case and was determined to work to overturn his conviction.
Dunn's hearing this year
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office presented its findings before Judge Jason Sengheiser in May 2024.
Dunn's defense team has maintained there was no credible testimony or physical evidence placing Dunn at the shooting scene.
Dunn's childhood friend testified it wasn't possible for Dunn to be the killer because he was at home talking to her on the phone at the time Rogers was killed.
Throughout the trial, Assistant Attorney General Tristin Estep argued Dunn was the gunman and continued to change his story.
"An innocent man’s best defense is the truth,” Estep said. “You've just heard lies from Christopher Dunn. He's never told you where he was that night."
Another recent case
On July 19, a judge overturned the conviction for Sandra Hemme.
Hemme was released from prison after 43 years behind bars for a deadly stabbing of a library worker in 1980.
The Innocence Project said Hemme was the longest-held wrongly incarcerated woman known in the U.S.
The attorney general's office continued appeals for more than a month.
During a court hearing last Friday, Judge Ryan Horsman scolded the AG's office for telling the warden not to release Hemme.
“To call someone and tell them to disregard a court order is wrong,” Horsman said. He said if Hemme wasn’t released within hours, Bailey would have to appear in court with contempt of court on the table.
Hemme was released later that day.
What happened this week
After two months, Judge Sengheiser shared his conclusion in 37 pages.
On Monday, Judge Sengheiser granted Gore's motion to vacate Dunn's conviction for first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault and three counts of armed criminal action, ordering the state of Missouri to immediately release Dunn from custody.
"The Court finds, even with a few troubling aspects of this case, the Circuit Attorney has made a clear and convincing show of 'actual innocence' that undermines the basis for Dunn's convictions," Sengheiser wrote in his judgment, "because in light of the new evidence, no juror, acting reasonably, would have voted to find Dunn guilty of these crimes beyond a reasonable doubt."
However, the Attorney General's Office appealed the decision. The Department of Corrections held Dunn.
"The Attorney General’s Office has filed a new motion in the case, and the department has been instructed to wait for a resolution of that legal action," a DOC spokesperson shared in a statement.
Michael Wolff is a retired Missouri Supreme Court Judge of 13 years and a former Chief Justice.
Wolff explained the AG's office has no legal authority to appeal.
"The Legislature, when it set up this statute, allows the Attorney General to participate in the proceeding, but he is not a party, so he did not have the right to appeal," Wolff said.
An emergency meeting was held Wednesday.
Judge Sengheiser ordered for Dunn to be released again by 6 p.m. Wednesday evening, or the warden of the state prison would be found in contempt of court.
On Wednesday, Christopher Dunn's wife and family drove more than two hours to South Central Correctional Facility and were waiting outside the prison for his court-authorized release, when they learned the Missouri Supreme Court issued an emergency stay.
The Missouri Supreme Court stalled it this time on behalf of the AG's request.
Documents claimed the Circuit Court held a hearing on three motions with more than 15 pages with less than one hour’s notice to the state.
Both sides must submit additional briefings in the next few days.
In all her years of teaching criminal justice, Saint Louis University professor Kenya Brumfield-Young has never seen such a fight to appeal an overturned conviction.
"[Dunn is] 50 feet from the door in his suit and he can't come out, it was devastating," she said. "As egregious a wrongful conviction is, they do happen."
She's dedicated time in the Dunn case over the years and spoke to him Thursday morning after a 24-hour whirlwind.
"He’s still processing, he’s optimistic, it’s a roller coaster for him too. He believes in what his team is working on," Brumfield-Young said.
The possible why
According to the Associated Press, political scientists said Bailey’s efforts are a way to appear tough on crime and shore up votes in advance of a tough primary race.
According to a review of court records by the Injustice Watch in 2020, a Chicago-based nonprofit journalism organization, the attorney general’s office has opposed calls for relief in nearly every wrongful conviction case that came before it and has been vacated since 2000.
- This includes 27 cases in which the office fought to uphold convictions for inmates who were eventually exonerated. This dated from 2000 to 2020.
- It learned in about half of those cases, the AG's office argued the original guilty verdict should stand even after a judge vacated the conviction
- The office played no role in at least 13 exonerations during this time period
"They may want to defend the integrity of the original judgment, but not all judgments are correct," Wolff said.
Brumfield-Young told 5 On Your Side the AG's office could argue it believes that justice was served.
"Unless there are constitutional errors, then there is no way we (the AG's office) can go back and rewind something based on newer evidence or things like that. I think it’s important to them to feel like they upheld the rule of law in the original trial and convictions," she said.
She thinks the responsibility of the AG's office should go beyond defending the original conviction.
"I don’t think it lends to justice prevailing, because justice is not innocent people in prison, while being found not guilty," Brumfield-Young said.
Brumfield-Young said everyone is human.
"It doesn’t mean people are stronger or weaker on their position, but what it does show, that they recognize the humanity that lies in their office and we are fallable and we made a mistake and our interest is making sure that justice is served," she said.
After reaching out to the AG's office for the next steps, 5 On Your Side also asked if there was a reason why there is a continuous push to hold Dunn, along with other cases involving overturned convictions.
A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office shared this statement:
“Throughout the appeals process, multiple courts have affirmed Christopher Dunn’s murder conviction. We will always fight for the rule of law and to obtain justice for victims.”
What's next for Christopher Dunn
"We are preparing a response to the Attorney General’s writ to prohibit the enforcement of Judge Sengheiser’s order directing Mr. Dunn’s immediate release, which we will file on or before 5 p.m. July 26, 2024, as directed by the Supreme Court," the Circuit Attorney's Office said in a statement on Thursday. "It is our hope that after the Court fully considers the merits of this matter, Judge Sengheiser’s order directing Mr. Dunn’s immediate release will be enforced."
Once Dunn's team submits those documents, the Attorney General's Office has until Monday at 5 p.m. to respond.
The rest is left up to the Missouri Supreme Court.
"When it comes to the Supreme Court, the question is going to be... well, what business does the Attorney General have in this case if the statute doesn't authorize him to be here as an appeal?" Wolff said.
Wolff believes the highest courts will respond rather quickly.
The Midwest Innocence Project has played a major role in these cases, including representing Dunn, Hemme, Strickland, and Johnson.
The Midwest Innocence Project has set up a GoFundMe for Dunn.
Marcellus Williams is another St. Louis man serving 24 years and has claimed his innocence. He's also a client of the Midwest Innocence Project. He faces execution Sept. 24.
In 2024, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney reviewed DNA results and filed a motion to vacate Williams' conviction. The circuit court has scheduled a hearing for August 21.
This month, Attorney General Bailey filed a writ of prohibition asking the Missouri Supreme Court to block the Circuit Court of St. Louis County from hearing the DNA evidence that proves his innocence. The Supreme Court denied that writ on Friday, and will go forward with hearing Williams' case for innocence.
