Christopher Dunn: Missouri: Bulletin: Convicted of first degree murder and related offences in 1991, sentenced to life without parole - all on the testimony of two eyewitnesses - a 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy, who later recanted their statements: Now, as First Alert 4 reports, he is a step closer to exoneration as a hearing is to be held on May 20, where a judge will consider vacating his murder conviction. From Justice for Christopher Dunn: "This is a momentous development, and we deeply thank Circuit Attorney Gore, Judge Shaw, and their conscientious teams for their rigorous review of the evidence and their outstanding, resulting motion to vacate. Chris, his family, and his legal team are filled with gratitude, joy, relief, and most of all - enormous hope that this nightmare is nearing its end."

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: "PUBLISHER'S NOTE:This Blog is interested in  false eye-witness identification issues because  wrongful identifications are at the heart of so many DNA-related exonerations in the USA and elsewhere - and because so much scientific research is being conducted with a goal to making the identification process more   transparent and reliable- and less subject to deliberate manipulation.  I have also reported far too many cases over the years - mainly cases lacking DNA evidence (or other forensic evidence pointing to the suspect - where the identification is erroneous - in spite of witness’s certainty that it is true - or where  the police have somehow  rigged the identification process in order to make a desired  identification inevitable."

Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.

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BACKGROUND: From Justice for Christopher Dunn: A Missouri judge declared him innocent in 2020, but Chris remains in prison 33 years after his wrongful conviction. The sky is clearing, the clouds are lifting, and dawn seems closer than ever.  St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabriel Gore refiled a motion to vacate Christopher Dunn's conviction on February 7, 2024, echoing and significantly augmenting the innocence findings of a Texas County judge in 2020 and another prosecutor in 2023. This is a momentous development, and we deeply thank Circuit Attorney Gore, Judge Shaw, and their conscientious teams for their rigorous review of the evidence and their outstanding, resulting motion to vacate. 

Chris, his family, and his legal team are filled with gratitude, joy, relief, and most of all - enormous hope that this nightmare is nearing its end.

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STORY: "Date set for hearing to vacate Christopher Dunn's murder conviction," by First Alert 4 Staff, published on May 10, 2024.

GIST:  A hearing date has been set for a judge to hear arguments to vacate Christopher Dunn’s murder conviction.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore filed a petition in February to vacate Dunn’s conviction for the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Rico Rogers on May 18, 1990.

Previous Coverage

Dunn was convicted of first-degree murder in 1991 and received a sentence of life in prison without parole. The case rested on two eyewitness testimonies from a 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy, who later recanted their statements.

Last year, Gore appointed a Special Assistant Circuit Attorney to assist in the review of Dunn’s case. The previous Circuit Attorney, Kim Gardner, filed a motion to overturn Dunn’s conviction in 2023 after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to rule on it.

In 2021, Missouri 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.

The motion to vacate hearing for Dunn has been scheduled for May 20.:

The entire story can be read at: 

https://www.firstalert4.com/2024/05/10/date-set-hearing-vacate-christopher-dunns-murder-conviction/

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/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985

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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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