ST. LOUIS – The decades-long saga of freeing a Missouri man wrongfully convicted of murder is nearing its denouement.
On Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the St. Louis Circuit Court lacked the authority to order the release of Christopher Dunn because the underlying murder charge filed against him was still pending. The state’s highest court wrote, “ordering [Mr. Dunn’s] release without allowing the State of Missouri an opportunity to indicate its intent, if any, to retry Dunn.”
In essence, the matter was put back in the hands of St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore, who last week filed a motion for Dunn’s immediate release. St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser overturned Dunn’s conviction on July 22.
Following the state Supreme Court’s ruling, Gore’s office released a statement saying they had “filed a Memorandum of Nolle Prosequi stating that ‘the State elects not to proceed’ in State of Missouri vs. Christopher Dunn, Cause Number 22901-001555, which makes clear that Mr. Dunn will not be retried.”
With the prosecution declining to retry Dunn, his release is expected.
Dunn, 54, was convicted on July 18, 1991, for the murder of Ricco Rogers.
Rogers, 15, was shot and killed on May 18, 1990, in the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood. Investigators believed Rogers was murdered over a gang affiliation.
At the time, Dunn was charged with first-degree murder, first-degree assault, and armed criminal action. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
Kim Gardner, the former circuit attorney, believed there to be clear and convincing evidence pointing to a wrongful conviction and had asked the St. Louis Circuit Court to overturn the verdict.
At the time, the trial hinged on the testimony of 12 and 14-year-olds, who later admitted that they were not telling the truth and recanted.
Ultimately, Circuit Attorney Gore said that proved to be enough.
His predecessor, Gardner, had filed that paperwork in mid-May 2023. Days later, she announced her resignation and left office on May 16. Earlier in the year, Gardner succeeded in getting the courts to re-examine and ultimately vacate Lamar Johnson’s murder conviction. Johnson had been behind bars for 28 years for the 1994 killing of Marcus Boyd.
Shortly after assuming office, Circuit Attorney Gore promised his office would conduct a full review of Dunn’s case before moving forward on anything.
In June 2023, Gore withdrew Gardner’s petition, saying he wanted to conduct his own investigation and review of Dunn’s case. He appointed retired Judge Booker Shaw to assist in the review and advise the circuit attorney on the possibility of withdrawing the case. Both Shaw and Gore concluded that Dunn was innocent of the crime.
