St. Louis judge orders Christopher Dunn’s release; Supreme court blocks his release
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - A St. Louis judge ordered Christopher Dunn to be released from prison by 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Judge Jason Sengheiser vacated Dunn’s first-degree murder conviction after 33 years in prison. In his judgment, the judge wrote that the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office made “a clear and convincing showing of ‘actual innocence’ that undermines the basis for Dunn’s conviction.” Sengheiser wrote that no reasonable juror would have voted to convict Dunn due to new evidence coming to light.
After the judge’s ruling on Monday, the Missouri Attorney General’s Office said they would appeal. Dunn remained in prison after the judge vacated his conviction.
On Wednesday, the Midwest Innocence Project filed an order asking the judge to strike the appeal and release Dunn. In the afternoon, the judge ruled that the attorney general could not interfere with a court order to release Dunn and that the Warden at the South Central Correctional Center must release him by 6 p.m. Wednesday. The judge denied the motion to Strike Notice of Appeal.
Dunn was convicted in the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Ricco Rogers on May 18, 1990. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The case rested on two eyewitness testimonies from a 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy, who later recanted their statements.
A gofundme has been created to support Dunn once he is released from prison.
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