Missouri prison refuses to release exonerated inmate as attorney general fights against judge who ruled the man innocent

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.”

St. Louis Judge Jason Sengheiser held a hearing for two days to gather evidence. Ultimately, Sengheiser ruled that the information presented was enough to show clear and convincing evidence that Dunn was innocent. Opposing Dunn’s motion was the office of Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R).

Sengheiser wrote in his ruling , “no juror, acting reasonably, would have voted to find Dunn guilty of these crimes beyond a reasonable doubt,” and ordered: “The State of Missouri shall immediately discharge Christopher Dunn from its custody.” Dunn, however, was still incarcerated in a state prison in Licking on Tuesday.

Bailey appealed the ruling to vacate Dunn’s conviction. Missouri Department of Corrections spokesperson Karen Pojmann told Law&Crime in an email Wednesday that, “the department is awaiting a resolution” of the legal action filed by Bailey and said Bailey’s office should be contacted for any additional information.

Bailey recently made headlines for suing New York State and making what he called a “modest request” that former President Donald Trump’s sentencing in the hush-money case be stayed until after the 2024 election.

In a statement Tuesday, Dunn’s attorneys said their client now looks forward to spending time with his wife and family as a free man.

The statement went on to argue that legal changes are needed to protect the rights of the innocent.

In 2021, Missouri passed a new law allowing prosecutors to seek the exoneration of individuals sentenced to life without parole. Before the change, prosecutors were only legally entitled to seek orders overturning convictions in death penalty cases. Dunn is the third person to be exonerated in the Show Me State since the change in the law.

Dunn’s legal team elaborated in their statement:

While we celebrate Chris’ exoneration, we urge the legislature to change the law, as it prolonged Chris’ nightmare. In 2020, Texas County Circuit Court Judge William Hickle found that there was significant evidence that Chris was innocent, but he was unable to free him because in Missouri, innocence alone is not enough to overturn a person’s conviction unless they were sentenced to death. Missouri is the only state in the nation to limit innocence claims by a person’s sentence. Since Chris was sentenced to life in prison plus 90 years, he remained trapped behind bars for an additional four years. That is intolerable and unjust.

Additionally, the attorneys derided Bailey’s office for opposing Dunn’s release and wasting valuable taxpayer resources to keep an innocent man behind bars.

“The Attorney General’s Office is not required to intervene in these cases, where a local prosecutor seeks to overturn an innocent person’s conviction,” the statement said. “The Attorney General’s Office is continuing to waste taxpayer money as it fights Chris’ release even though two judges have now found that no jury would convict Chris today.”

Dunn’s case mirrors that of Sandra Hemme , the longest-known wrongly incarcerated woman in the U.S., whose release was also opposed by Bailey.

Hemme’s conviction for the 1980 murder of Patricia Jeschke was overturned on June 14, 2024, after Hemme served 43 years in prison. Hemme was not linked to the murder by witnesses or physical evidence. Rather, she was convicted based on her own confessions, which were ultimately deemed to be the false product of Hemme’s being forcibly medicated against her will.

Although Hemme’s conviction was overturned in mid-June, she was not freed until July 19 . Ultimately, Hemme was released from prison only after a judge threatened to hold Bailey in contempt for calling prison officials and telling them not to release Hemme.

Law&Crime reached out to Bailey for comment, but did not receive a response.

Editor’s note: This piece was updated from its original version to include comment from the Missouri Department of Corrections.

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