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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Gore was appointed St. Louis circuit attorney in May 2023 by Gov. Mike Parson, following the resignation of Kim Gardner.
Not long after being appointed, Gore withdrew a motion Gardner had filed calling on Dunn’s conviction to be vacated. He said, in part, of that decision, “I, on the day I was sworn in, had never undertaken such a review. I could not make those representations to the court. It was necessary and required that we withdraw the motion to vacate and that I conduct my own review."
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PHOTO CAPTION: "Christopher 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."
GIST: "St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore says the evidence shows Christopher Dunn, a 54-year-old St. Louis native serving a life sentence without parole, is innocent of the murder for which he has served more than 30 years.
And in a statement released to the media Wednesday, Gore announced he’d filed a motion with the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court seeking to vacate Dunn’s murder conviction in 1991 fatal shooting of 15-year-old Ricco Rogers.
“The eyewitness recantations alone are enough to show clear and convincing evidence of actual innocence in this case,” Gore said. “Justice requires that Christopher Dunn’s murder conviction be vacated.”
Dunn was convicted in 1991 of first-degree murder, first-degree assault, and armed criminal action and received a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The case against Dunn rested on the testimony of two eyewitnesses – a 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy – both of whom later recanted.
Last year, Gore appointed Booker Shaw as a special assistant circuit attorney working on a pro-bono basis to assist him in the review of court transcripts, case exhibits and rulings,and advise him whether the filing of a motion to vacate the conviction was appropriate.
Shaw, a partner in the St. Louis law firm of Thompson Coburn, is the former chief judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals and served as a judge in the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court from 1983 to 2002,
Circuit Judge William Hickle said in 2020 that while he believed a current jury would not find Dunn guilty, he could not set him free because of Missouri law that restricts innocence claims to death penalty inmates. In 2021, a new Missouri law took effect that allows prosecutors to file petitions when they believe an innocent person is imprisoned.
The next step, Gore’s office said Wednesday, is “for the court to order a hearing before a judge 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.”
Gore was appointed St. Louis circuit attorney in May 2023 by Gov. Mike Parson, following the resignation of Kim Gardner.
Not long after being appointed, Gore withdrew a motion Gardner had filed calling on Dunn’s conviction to be vacated. He said, in part, of that decision, “I, on the day I was sworn in, had never undertaken such a review. I could not make those representations to the court. It was necessary and required that we withdraw the motion to vacate and that I conduct my own review.""
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-12348801
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