Christopher Dunn is seen at the South Central Correctional Center in Licking, Missouri (KMOV).
The Missouri Supreme Court blocked the release of a wrongfully-convicted man Wednesday, issuing a last-minute order for him to stay incarcerated just as the man was exiting the prison facility and waiting for a ride.
Christopher Dunn, 52, has served 34 years behind bars for the 1990 murder of 15-year-old Ricco Rogers. However, the evidence used to convict Dunn was primarily the testimony of two child witnesses who later recanted. St. Louis Judge Jason Sengheiser held a two-day hearing in June after which he ruled that the information presented was enough to show clear and convincing evidence that Dunn was actually innocent.
Sengheiser wrote in his ruling that “no juror, acting reasonably, would have voted to find Dunn guilty of these crimes beyond a reasonable doubt,” and ordered Dunn’s immediate release. Sengheiser directed the prison to release Dunn by 6 p.m. CDT Wednesday and threatened the prison warden with contempt if Dunn remained behind bars.
However, Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey has opposed Dunn’s release for years. After Sengheiser’s ruling, Bailey filed a motion asking that Dunn be forced to stay in prison while he appeals the finding of actual innocence.
Missouri’s top court granted an emergency stay of Dunn’s release order Wednesday, thereby keeping Dunn in prison indefinitely. According to The Associated Press, Dunn was already out of the prison facility with his wife en route to retrieve him when news of Bailey’s victory at the Missouri Supreme Court reached him. Missouri Department of Corrections spokesperson Karen Pojmann reportedly called the situation “chaotic” as Dunn was in the process of signing release paperwork at the moment the court put his release on hold.
Justin Bonus, one of Dunn’s attorneys, told press Wednesday that the attorney general’s choice to oppose Dunn’s release was, “morally and intellectually bankrupt.”
In an email to Law&Crime Thursday, Bonus said:
Right now, Christopher Dunn is an innocent person sitting in prison with no criminal charges or conviction. That’s un-American. This is a travesty of justice. 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.
After the state court’s order, attorneys for Dunn must respond in writing by Friday, then Bailey’s office must respond by Monday.
Kira Dunn, Christopher Dunn’s wife, said she had been traveling to pick her husband up from prison when she learned that the Missouri Supreme Court, “decided to entertain” the attorney general’s quest to, “disrespect, cancel, and disregard a sitting judge’s order.”
Kira Dunn said that her husband is, “still waiting to see what justice looks like in Missouri.”
Bailey’s actions in another case were harshly criticized by New York State Attorney General Letitia James for “seriously undermin[ing] the integrity of the courts.” James responded to a motion Bailey filed with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the justices to delay Donald Trump’s sentencing for 34 felony falsification of business records convictions at least until after the 2024 presidential election.
Law&Crime reached out to representatives for Bailey and the Missouri Department of Corrections for comment, but did not receive a response.
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