PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "A judge has heard Dunn's innocence case before. At an evidentiary hearing in 2020, Judge William Hickle agreed that a jury would likely find Dunn not guilty based on new evidence. But Hickle declined to exonerate Dunn, citing a 2016 Missouri Supreme Court ruling that only death row inmates — not those like Dunn sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole — could make a “freestanding” claim of actual innocence. A 2021 law now allows prosecutors to seek court hearings in cases with new evidence of a wrongful conviction. It has led to the freeing of another longtime inmate, Kevin Strickland, who served more than 40 years for a Kansas City triple killing. Lamar Johnson, who spent nearly three decades in prison, was the second inmate freed as a result of the new law."
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STORY: "St. Louis circuit attorney appoints former judge to review decades-old murder conviction," by Reporter Christine Byers, published by KSDK, on July 18, 2023.
SUB-HEADING: "St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner's last act was to petition the court to set aside the conviction of Christopher Dunn, citing evidence of innocence."
PHOTO CAPTION: "This photo provided by Kira Dunn shows Christopher Dunn. St. Louis' top prosecutor has asked a court to set aside the conviction of the man who has spent 33 years in prison for a killing he says he didn't commit, after witnesses who testified against him later said authorities had pressured them to lie. In her request to overturn Dunn's first-degree murder conviction, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner cited “clear and convincing evidence” that he had not been involved in the 1990 shooting death of Ricco Rogers."
GIST: "St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore has appointed former federal judge and assistant circuit attorney Booker Shaw to review the first-degree murder conviction of Christopher Dunn dating back to 1990.
Shaw has agreed to do so on a pro-bono basis.
It's somewhat of an about-face for Shaw, who represented the judges of the 22nd Judicial Circuit as they prepared to testify against Gore’s predecessor Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner during the Missouri Attorney General’s lawsuit to remove Gardner from office.
She resigned before that case went to trial.
She filed the request after witnesses who testified against Dunn later said authorities had pressured them to lie. In her request, Gardner cited “clear and convincing evidence” that he had not been involved in the 1990 shooting death of Ricco Rogers.
“In a case of this magnitude, a full review of the facts and the law is required," Gore said in a release announcing Shaw's appointment. "I could not think of a better attorney to assist me in conducting the necessary analysis. I would like to thank Thompson Coburn for lending us one of their finest legal minds."
Dunn, 51, who is Black, was 18 when Ricco Rogers was killed. Among the key evidence used to convict him was testimony from two boys who were at the scene of the shooting. Both later recanted their testimony, saying they had been coerced by police and prosecutors.
A judge has heard Dunn's innocence case before.
At an evidentiary hearing in 2020, Judge William Hickle agreed that a jury would likely find Dunn not guilty based on new evidence.
But Hickle declined to exonerate Dunn, citing a 2016 Missouri Supreme Court ruling that only death row inmates — not those like Dunn sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole — could make a “freestanding” claim of actual innocence.
A 2021 law now allows prosecutors to seek court hearings in cases with new evidence of a wrongful conviction.
It has led to the freeing of another longtime inmate, Kevin Strickland, who served more than 40 years for a Kansas City triple killing. Lamar Johnson, who spent nearly three decades in prison, was the second inmate freed as a result of the new law."
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. 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/120008354894645705/47049136857587929
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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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.”
https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-1234880143/
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