Missouri Attorney General Wants To Send Exonerated Man Back To Prison

An exonerated man could be sent back to prison if the Missouri Attorney General gets his way.

A wrongly convicted Black man who spent over 30 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit could face a return to prison if the Missouri Attorney General has his way.

Christopher Dunn had his conviction overturned last summer after a St. Louis judge applied a 2021 law that reshaped the legal process for innocence claims, KCUR reports. However, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office is now petitioning the state Supreme Court to allow an appeal of Dunn’s release.

Bailey has consistently opposed the release of wrongfully convicted individuals, even when ordered by the courts. Now, despite his exoneration, Dunn’s freedom remains uncertain. Last month, the Missouri attorney general’s office argued before the state Supreme Court for the right to challenge Dunn’s release.

“Innocence has never been enough, according to the attorney general’s office,” Dunn told St. Louis on the Air. “Right now, I’m just sitting here waiting to see if the Missouri Supreme Court is going to rule with the consciousness of the law.”

Along with attempting to appeal Dunn’s exoneration, Bailey’s office is also fighting a proposed bill aimed at expanding who can file an “actual innocence” claim in court. Under the current 2021 law, only prosecutors in the county of conviction can pursue innocence claims. The new bill, HB 1075, would allow individuals in the Department of Corrections’ custody to petition for innocence, even if they are not on death row.

The bill’s public hearing on Feb. 26 was before the House Judiciary Committee. Dunn and several other exonerees testified in support of the measure, while First Assistant Attorney General Jay Atkins voiced his opposition.

Atkins argued that the bill fails to involve victims in the expanded legal process for innocence claims. He also claimed the proposal “undermines our system of justice in a way worse than any bill I have ever seen.”

“I think the greater miscarriage of justice is the fact that we have people who are sitting in prison for things that we didn’t do,” said Kenya Brumfield-Young, a criminologist and professor at St. Louis University.