Christopher Dunn leaves the Carnahan Courthouse in St. Louis on Tuesday after more than three decades in prison (photo courtesy of Midwest Innocence Project).
On Tuesday, Christopher Dunn walked out of a courthouse in St. Louis a free man after serving 34 years for a murder he did not commit.
A week prior, Dunn was only 50 feet from freedom, dressed in a suit he picked out for himself, after a St. Louis Circuit Court judge ordered his immediate release. However, he remained incarcerated as Missouri’s Attorney General’s Office fought to keep him in prison. This situation raises critical questions about the attorney general’s commitment to ensuring true justice for all Missourians.
Dunn was convicted in 1991 of first-degree murder based mainly on the testimony of two eyewitnesses, age 12 and 14, who have since recanted, claiming they were coerced. Despite mounting evidence of his innocence and a judge’s order citing “actual innocence,” the Missouri Attorney General’s Office vehemently opposed his release. This opposition is not an isolated incident but part of a troubling pattern of practice in Missouri’s criminal justice landscape.