ST. LOUIS — The Missouri Supreme Court said Wednesday that Christopher Dunn must remain in prison, despite a lower court ruling clearing him of murder and ordering his immediate release.
The one-page order from the state high court came minutes before Dunn was expected to walk out of prison after 33 years.
The decision contradicts an order from Judge Jason Sengheiser earlier on Wednesday. Sengheiser called ongoing opposition from Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s Office — and Dunn’s continued incarceration despite an earlier release order — “an affront to the rule of law.â€
“This court is not going to tolerate that,†Sengheiser said.
Bailey filed twice on Wednesday to block Dunn’s release: The Missouri Court of Appeals ruled against him; the state Supreme Court ruled in his favor.
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Bailey’s office did not immediately comment Wednesday.
Dunn, 52, was convicted nearly 34 years ago of the murder of 15-year-old Ricco Rogers in the city’s Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood.
In May, a team of lawyers including the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Circuit Attorney’s Office and Midwest Innocence Project argued his conviction should be overturned after two boys who helped secure his conviction recanted their eyewitness testimony as adults.
Bailey’s office opposed those efforts, arguing that the witnesses initial testimony was correct and that the conviction should stand.
Then, on Monday, Sengheiser ruled that Dunn was actually innocent and should be released. Bailey’s office quickly filed a notice of appeal and ordered prison officials not to let him go.
That prompted the Circuit Attorney’s Office to request an emergency hearing on Wednesday.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore and Dunn attorney Justin Bonus argued Bailey’s office had no authority to appeal and the state had no authority to keep Dunn in prison since he was no longer convicted of a crime.
“It’s a violation of his civil rights, frankly,†Bonus said.
Lawyers for Bailey’s office, however, argued that the Missouri Court of Appeals — not Sengheiser — has the authority to stop their appeal and that Dunn should stay put while that process plays out.
Sengheiser disagreed. He said if Bailey wanted the right to appeal cases like Dunn’s he should ask the legislature to give him that authority.
“What he cannot do and what he should not do is call prison officials and tell them to disobey a court order,†he said.
He ordered Dunn to be released from the South Central Correctional Center in Licking, Missouri, immediately. If his order wasn’t followed, he said, he would file to hold them in contempt.
But Bailey argued in a filing Wednesday that his office was given just 30 minutes to review before the Wednesday hearing, that Sengheiser’s ruling was not final, and that the judge exceeded his authority by ordering Dunn’s immediate release.
The Supreme Court’s ruling came out just before 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Dunn’s attorney was visibly frustrated outside of the prison Wednesday. He said his client was found innocent after a thorough process by Gore’s office and a judge and he should be released.
“Right now he is being held hostage by the state of Missouri,†Bonus said.