Christopher Dunn: Missouri: Hugely important step: His lawyer has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case in what Kira Dunn, his wife, is calling, "potentially the last chance." A link to the petition is provided below... “The filing into the [U.S.] Supreme Court asks the right question. It asks about the constitutionality of keeping people who have evidence that exonerates them, whether or not it’s a violation of the 8th Amendment or cruel or unusual punishment to keep them incarcerated,” said Kenya Brumfield-Young, a Saint Louis University criminology professor. Pre-filed Missouri legislation called the Freestanding Bill hopes to right what some see as a wrong this coming legislative session, allowing prosecutors to file a motion to vacate or set aside a judgment at any time if they have information that the convicted person may be innocent or may have been erroneously convicted, regardless if the person is on death row or not. “That is the intent of the legislation, is to be able to apply to all--everyone who is under the Department of Corrections,” Brumfield-Young said."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Chris Dunn’s lawyer recently filed the petition to ask the court to decide if Dunn’s incarceration is unconstitutional after a judge acknowledged Dunn meets the criteria to be innocent. Dunn was convicted for a 1990 deadly shooting of a teen in St. Louis. Others involved in the case later admitted they lied about Dunn’s involvement.  No DNA ever tied Dunn to the murder. A judge also admitted that the lack of evidence is enough to prove Dunn is innocent."

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STORY: "Lawyer of Missouri prisoner asks U.S. Supreme Court to step in," by Reporter Delon Braxton, published by KMOV, on December 23, 2022. (A link to the petition is provided below);

SUB-HEADING: "Chris Dunn has served more than 30 years in prison."

GIST: "The lawyer of a St. Louis man and convicted felon has filed a petition to the U.S. Supreme to review his client’s case.

Chris Dunn’s lawyer recently filed the petition to ask the court to decide if Dunn’s incarceration is unconstitutional after a judge acknowledged Dunn meets the criteria to be innocent.

Dunn was convicted for a 1990 deadly shooting of a teen in St. Louis. Others involved in the case later admitted they lied about Dunn’s involvement. 

No DNA ever tied Dunn to the murder. A judge also admitted that the lack of evidence is enough to prove Dunn is innocent.

The State of Missouri recently enacted a law giving prosecutors an avenue to file a petition to free innocent prisoners who exhaust their appeals. 

The law allows a prosecutor to file a motion to vacate or set aside a judgment at any time if they have information that the convicted person may be innocent or may have been erroneously convicted.

A Missouri Supreme Court case in 2016 (Lincoln v. Cassady) ruled claims of freestanding innocence are relegated to death row inmates. 

That ruling set the precedent of only allowing prosecutors to file a motion to vacate or set aside a judgment at any time if they have information that the death row inmate may be innocent or may have been erroneously convicted, excluding all other convicted felons.

Death row inmate Kevin Strickland was freed last year due to the new law, but the precedent set in the 2016 Missouri Supreme Court ruling of Lincoln v. Cassady is why the Missouri Supreme Court refuses to take on Dunn’s case.

“The [U.S.] Supreme Court is potentially the last chance,” Kira Dunn, wife of Chris Dunn, told News 4. “Any system in the world-any industry, any organization-when they realize there’s a flaw, they fix it.”

The City of St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office sent News 4 the following statement:

“The Circuit Attorney’s Office takes claims of manifest injustice seriously. It is in the best interest of our City and State to ensure that convictions levied on individuals are correct according to the available evidence and constitutional law. To that end, we will continue to seek justice in cases where we determine action is required to address a wrongful conviction.”

Theentire story can be read at:

https://www.kmov.com/2022/12/24/lawyer-missouri-prisoner-asks-us-supreme-court-step/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  I am monitoring this case/issue/resurce. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;

SEE BREAKDOWN OF  SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG,  AT THE LINK BELOW:  HL:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985

FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."

Lawyer Radha Natarajan:

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!

Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

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