Left: Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey testifies before the House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Capitol Hill, June 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) Right: Christopher Dunn arrives in court on the first day of his hearing to decide whether to vacate his murder conviction, Tuesday, May 21, 2024 (Laurie Skrivan/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP, Pool).
A St. Louis, Missouri, judge vacated Christopher Dunn’s murder conviction on Monday and ordered that the man, who has spent 34 years behind bars, should be released from custody “immediately.” However, despite the finding that Dunn was wrongfully convicted, he is still incarcerated — making him the second inmate in two weeks to have been kept in prison after being exonerated.
Dunn was convicted in 1991 for the first-degree murder of 15-year-old Ricco Rogers. Dunn was 18 years old at the time, and the case against him was based entirely on eyewitness accounts of a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old, both of whom eventually recanted. Dunn maintained that on the night of the murder, he was at home with his mother, and two friends testified they had lengthy phone conversations with Dunn that night during which his behavior was normal.
Dunn’s attorney filed a motion to vacate the conviction arguing that the young eyewitness’ recantations were enough to constitute “clear and convincing evidence of actual innocence.”
