St. Louis Circuit Attorney Office discusses judge overturning conviction of Christopher Dunn

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office says they are 'hopeful and optimistic' to be able handle any appeal from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's Office in regards to the release of Christopher Dunn.

On Monday, a Missouri judge overturned the conviction of Dunn , who has spent more than 30 years in prison for a killing he has long contended he didn’t commit.

The judge ruled "Circuit Attorney has made a clear and convincing showing of ‘actual innocence’ that undermines the basis for Dunn’s convictions because in light of new evidence, no juror, acting reasonably, would have voted to find Dunn guilty of these crimes beyond a reasonable doubt."

The Missouri Attorney General’s Office have opposed the effort to vacate Dunn’s conviction, with Bailey's Office having signaled that they would appeal Monday's ruling.

On Tuesday, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore's Office held a press conference to discuss Dunn's release and his team says they are 'hopeful and optimistic' they can handle the Attorney General Office's potential appeal.

"At this point we are considering our options, but the law provides the Attorney General with no right of appeal," said Booker Shaw, a former Missouri Court Appellate Judge. "We are hopeful and optimistic that should they move forward with the notice of appeal, we will be able to move quickly to get (Dunn's) release."

However, Shaw says that they are heading into uncharted territory because there's no legal basis for Bailey's Office to appeal the ruling.

"There's no legal basis for them to file the appeal in the first place," said Shaw. "We are hopeful the court will recognize that and move expeditiously to allow his release."

"People do a great many things that they don't have a legal basis to do."

Gore says while it's very early in the process and they are still considering their legal options, but at the moment, his office will plan to work to strike the appeal.

"I'm focused on achieving our objective, with one of those objectives having been achieved, which is the motion to vacate (Dunn's sentence) has been granted" said Gore. "And the other part of the judge's ruling was he be immediately released and we still have work to do to obtain that relief, but that's what we are focused on."

A Missouri law adopted in 2021 lets prosecutors request hearings when they see evidence of a wrongful conviction. While Bailey’s office is not required to oppose such efforts, he also opposed another effort in St. Louis that resulted in Lamar Johnson being freed last year after serving 28 years for a murder case in which a judge ruled he was wrongfully convicted.

The office says they do not know when Dunn can get released from the South Central Correctional Center in Licking, Missouri, but the judge ruled the state of Missouri "shall immediately discharge Christopher Dunn from it's custody."

Dunn's wife Kyra says she is looking forward to the day Dunn will get released.

Midwest Innocence Project has established a GoFundMe to help Dunn