Last year, shortly after Governor Mike Parson appointed Attorney Gabe Gore to head the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s office, the St. Louis American conducted a one-one-interview with the seasoned lawyer to discuss an array of issues. One of those questions concerned Christopher Dunn, an inmate who Gore’s predecessor, Kim Gardner, filed a motion to vacate his life sentence. It was Gardner’s last act in office in May, the day before she resigned.
Gore emphasized that he had withdrawn Gardner’s motion with the courts because he needed time to conduct his own thorough review and make a conclusion based on his own findings.
On Wednesday, during a news conference, Gore stated he was filing a motion with the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis to vacate Dunn’s 33-year-old murder conviction.
There is “clear and convincing evidence” of Dunn’s innocence, Gore said, adding: “Justice requires that Christopher Dunn’s murder conviction be vacated.”
On May 18, 1990, 15-year-old Ricco Rogers, was shot dead just before midnight, in the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood. Dunn, who was 18 years old at the time, was arrested for the murder.
The case against Dunn relied solely on the eyewitness testimonies of two children — one 12-year-old and one 14-year-old — both who later recanted. Dunn was convicted in 1991 of first-degree murder, first-degree assault, and armed criminal action and received a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
The recantations of the young eyewitnesses’ testimonies alone were enough to indicate “clear and convincing evidence of actual innocence,” Gore wrote in his motion to vacate.
Methodically detailing the evidence in the case against Gunn in his 25-page motion, Gore concluded there “is clear and convincing evidence that undermines any court’s confidence in Christopher Dunn’s conviction.”
If the same case were brought before the courts today, Gore predicted that no “jury would now convict Christopher Dunn under these facts.”
Gore added that his office found experts who could further debunk the eyewitness testimony. He ended his motion with a plea to the court, stating that “after considering all of the evidence presented, vacate or set aside the judgment of Christopher Dunn.”
If his motion moves forward, the court will hold a hearing to consider all the evidence presented during Dunn’s 1991 trial and what was uncovered by Gore’s team.
“For more than 30 years, Christopher Dunn has been imprisoned for a crime he did not commit,” Dunn’s attorneys wrote in a statement.
“This morning, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore joined Chris’ call for justice and filed a motion to vacate Chris’ conviction because he is actually innocent.”
Last year, Gore appointed Booker Shaw as Special Assistant Circuit Attorney to assist the Circuit Attorney’s Office in reviewing Dunn’s case. Shaw is the former Chief Judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, and served as a judge in the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court from 1983 to 2002.
He is currently a partner in the St. Louis law firm of Thompson Coburn and has been working on a pro bono basis on the Dunn case review since mid-July.
“My office is indebted to Booker Shaw, whose experience and legal acumen were invaluable in helping conduct an exhaustive review of the facts of the case,” Gore said.
The next step in the process is for the court to order a hearing before a judge in the 22nd Circuit to consider the evidence presented at Dunn’s original trial, additional evidence presented in Dunn’s direct appeals and post-conviction proceedings, and additional information and evidence presented at the hearing.
Last year, 22nd Circuit Court Judge David Mason vacated the life sentence of Lamar Johnson’s, ruling he was wrongly convicted and imprisoned nearly 30 years ago. Dunn, if released, will be the second person in St. Louis to be freed after making a similar claim of innocence.
A hearing on Dunn’s case has not been scheduled.
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.
