A Missouri man who has spent more than 30 years in prison was released Tuesday after a judge overturned his murder conviction.
Christopher Dunn has long maintained that he was not involved in the killing of Ricco Rogers, 15, who was fatally shot May 18, 1990, while he was sitting on a porch at a home.
In July, St. Louis City Judge Jason Sengheiser ruled in favor of vacating Dunn’s conviction, saying Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore "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."
On Tuesday, the state Supreme Court ruled Dunn must be held in prison until a retrial if prosecutors choose to go down that path. In its decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the state attorney general's office, which sought to keep Dunn behind bars.
“Because the circuit court lacks authority to unconditionally release Dunn while criminal charges remain pending, this Court issues a permanent writ prohibiting the circuit court from ordering his release without allowing the state of Missouri an opportunity to indicate its intent, if any, to retry Dunn,” according to the ruling.
The Midwest Innocence Project said in a statement: "We are thrilled that Chris will finally be reunited with his family after 34 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit. We look forward to supporting Chris as he rebuilds his life.
"But our joy in welcoming Chris home is tempered by the additional days and moments stolen from him by this week’s proceedings," the group added.
Dunn, 52, was 18 when he was falsely accused of fatally shooting Rogers. Even though no physical evidence linked Dunn to the crime, he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Dunn's mother and sister had said he was home with them at the time of the shooting watching television and talking on their landline phone.
The conviction was based largely on the testimony of two young witnesses who said they saw the shooting. The witnesses, who were 12 and 14, later recanted their testimony and said they were coerced by prosecutors and police.
One of the witnesses, Michael Davis Jr., said in a recorded interview played at a hearing in May that he had lied and said Dunn was the shooter because he thought Dunn was affiliated with a rival gang. The other witness, DeMorris Stepp, has changed his story several times over the years and has said he did not see Dunn as the shooter, Gore said at the hearing.
The attorney general’s office, which appealed the judge's ruling to overturn the conviction, said at the hearing in May that the witnesses' testimony was correct, even though they recanted.