ST. LOUIS (AP) 鈥� A Missouri judge on Monday overturned the conviction of , who has spent more than 30 years in prison for a killing he has long contended he didn鈥檛 commit.
The ruling is likely to free Dunn from prison, but it wasn鈥檛 immediately clear when that would happen. He has been serving a sentence of life without parole.
St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser鈥檚 ruling came several weeks after he presided over a three-day hearing on Dunn鈥檚 fate.
Dunn, now 52, was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1990 shooting of 15-year-old Ricco Rogers. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore filed a motion in February seeking to vacate the guilty verdict. A hearing was in May.
Sengheiser, in his ruling, wrote that the 鈥淐ircuit Attorney has made a clear and convincing showing of 鈥榓ctual innocence鈥� that undermines the basis for Dunn鈥檚 convictions because in light of new evidence, no juror, acting reasonably, would have voted to find Dunn guilty of these crimes beyond a reasonable doubt.鈥�
Dunn鈥檚 attorney, Midwest Innocence Project Executive Director Tricia Rojo Bushnell, said she was 鈥渙verjoyed鈥� by the judge鈥檚 ruling.
鈥淣ow, Chris looks forward to spending time with his wife and family as a free man,鈥� Bushnell said in a statement.
The Missouri Attorney General鈥檚 Office opposed the effort to vacate Dunn鈥檚 conviction. Lawyers for the state said at the May hearing that initial testimony from two boys at the scene who identified Dunn as the shooter was correct, even though they later recanted as adults.
鈥淭hat verdict was accurate, and that verdict should stand,鈥� Assistant Attorney General Tristin Estep said at the hearing.
Spokesperson Madeline Sieren said the Attorney General鈥檚 Office will appeal.
The decision in Dunn's case came days after was freed from a western Missouri prison after serving 43 years for a murder that a judge determined she didn't commit. Bailey's office also opposed Hemme's release.
A Missouri law lets prosecutors request hearings when they see evidence of a wrongful conviction. While Bailey鈥檚 office is not required to oppose such efforts, he also opposed another effort in St. Louis that resulted in being freed last year after serving 28 years for a murder case in which a judge ruled he was wrongfully convicted.
Rogers was shot May 18, 1990, when a gunman opened fire while he was with a group of other teenage boys outside a home. DeMorris Stepp, 14, and Michael Davis Jr., 12, both initially identified Dunn as the shooter.
In a recorded interview played at the hearing, Davis said he lied because he thought Dunn was affiliated with a rival gang.
Stepp鈥檚 story has changed a few times over the years, Gore said at the hearing. Most recently he has said he did not see Dunn as the shooter. Gore said another judge previously found Stepp to be a 鈥渃ompletely unreliable witness鈥� and urged Sengheiser to discount him altogether.
Dunn has said he was at his mother鈥檚 home at the time of the shooting. Childhood friend Nicole Bailey testified that she spoke with him by phone that night and he was on a phone at his mother鈥檚 house.
Estep, the assistant attorney general, said that alibi could not be trusted and Dunn鈥檚 story has shifted multiple times over the years. Dunn did not testify at the hearing.
The 2021 law has resulted in the the release of two men who each spent decades in prison. In addition to Johnson, was freed in 2021 after more than 40 years for three killings in Kansas City after a judge ruled he was .
Another hearing is next month for , who narrowly escaped lethal injection and is now facing another execution date.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell filed a motion in January to vacate the conviction of Williams, who was convicted in the fatal stabbing of Lisha Gayle in 1998. Bell鈥檚 motion said three experts determined that Williams鈥� DNA was not on the handle of the butcher knife used in the killing.
Williams was hours from execution in 2017 when then-Gov. Eric Greitens halted it and appointed a board of inquiry to examine his innocence claim. The board never issued a ruling, and Gov. Mike Parson, like Greitens a Republican, .
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled this month that Parson had the authority to dissolve the board and .
Jim Salter, The Associated Press
