BACKGROUND: From the Davis Vanguard: (October 16, 2021): "The police came looking for Dunn the following day and arrested him. He was held for 15 months in the city jail before his trial. His public defender, who spent about 20 minutes total with him before representing him in court, did not call his alibi witnesses, present phone records, test for gunshot residue, or conduct any other sort of crime scene analysis. No physical evidence linked him to the crime. The prosecution had only the testimony of two young boys, aged 12 and 14, who said that Dunn shot at them and hit their friend as the three sat on a porch around midnight. Both boys, now men, have recanted their testimonies and explained that they accused Dunn because they didn’t like him. Neither boy saw the person who fired shots from the dark, they admit. In exchange for their testimonies, both received generous deals on unrelated charges pending against them. Now that its only evidence against Dunn was revealed as false, the State no longer has a case. A 25th Circuit judge agreed that is Dunn is innocent after an evidentiary hearing in which both recantations were presented, and an independent witness testified that it would have been impossible to see where the shots came from—much less who fired them. The friend on the phone testified that she was talking with Dunn moments before the crime took place."
---------------------------------------------
STORY: Missouri Appeals Court upholds ruling overturning Christopher Dunn’s murder conviction," by published by STLPR (St. Louis Public Radio) on May 19, 2026. (Chad Davis is a 2016 graduate of Truman State University where he studied Public Communication and English. At Truman State, Chad served as the executive producer of the on-campus news station, TMN Television. In 2017, Chad joins the St. Louis Public Radio team as a general assignment reporter.)
SUB-HEADING: "A Missouri appeals court ruled Tuesday that Christopher Dunn should remain free, upholding the ruling that overturned his decades-old murder conviction."
GIST: "The Missouri Eastern District Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that a reasonable judge would find “clear and convincing evidence” that Dunn was innocent of the murder of Ricco Rogers.
The decision came exactly 36 years and one day after Ricco Rogers was killed. In a phone interview Tuesday, Christopher Dunn called the ruling overwhelming.
“Ricco Rogers' family deserves justice,” Dunn said. “I'm tired, but [I know] that the fight must continue until it's over.”
A spokesperson for the Missouri attorney general’s office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering next steps.
Dunn was convicted of the murder of Ricco Rogers in 1990. He spent 34 years in prison and has maintained his innocence. The conviction was based on testimony from two boys who later recanted their statements and said prosecutors and police had coerced them.
In 2020, Missouri Circuit Judge William Hickle ruled it was unlikely a jury would convict Dunn based on the evidence. A Missouri statute passed a year later allowed prosecutors to file petitions on behalf of convicted people they believe are innocent.
In 2023, former St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner said she would file a motion to vacate Dunn’s conviction but resigned months later. Current Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore filed a motion to throw out the conviction a year later. Dunn was released later that year after St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser ruled Dunn was wrongly convicted.
However, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled the attorney general’s office could file an appeal. Oral arguments in the appeal began earlier this year.
On Tuesday, Dunn thanked his lawyers and legal team who have supported him over the years. He said even after his release, it’s difficult to feel truly free.
“My weight fluctuates, I go through my moments of anxiety, I have a stress level that goes beyond any comprehension,” Dunn said. “I still feel like I'm in prison to a degree and not knowing if waking up would be a better option for me or if I should just remain in that bed and just exist, because right now I feel like I'm not able to live.”
Dunn’s wife, Kira Dunn, echoed similar stressors, though she said they hope this is the end of their family’s legal challenges.
“I can only say that I am in awe of Chris and his resilience and his strength,” Kira Dunn said. “I'm just trying the best I can to be by his side and be as much of a help and support as I can during this time. We support each other, and at least for me, a lot of this I'm trying really not to feel it until we know for sure that his freedom is secured, and we know for sure that this is over.""
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.stlpr.org/law-order/2026-05-19/missouri-appeals-court-upholds-ruling-overturning-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. 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. 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; 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;
