The Missouri Supreme Court refuses to consider innocence case for Chris Dunn

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The Missouri Supreme Court has denied a petition to review the case of Christopher Dunn.

Dunn has been the recent focus of a KCTV5 News investigation. He was convicted in a 1990 murder of St. Louis teenager Recco Rogers. Throughout his decades in prison, Dunn has maintained his innocence.

No physical evidence linked Dunn to the crime. The key witnesses were 12 and 14 years-old. Both are now adults and admit they lied in their testimony. He was sentenced to life + 90 in prison.

The irony is that Dunn would have been better off if he had been sentenced to death. There is a precedent to free innocent prisoners on death row, but not those serving a life sentence. Even a Missouri judge believes Dunn is innocent, but that’s not enough for him to be free. Missouri is one of the most difficult states for innocent prisoners to win freedom.

“It don’t make no sense,” Dunn told us in a recent interview. “It was enough evidence, it was good enough evidence for you to convict me, but still is not good enough evidence for you to free me now? What? What logic that?”

Dunn wonders, if he can’t be freed, at least the courts should revisit the case.

“If you think that I’m guilty of a crime, then give me a new trial,” Dunn said. “Give me a fresh shot. I deserved that.”

We spoke with Dunn by phone after the ruling, and he said he was disappointed but not surprised. His family is devastated. They thought the Supreme Court would review the case because a life is at stake.

But this is not the end of Dunn’s story. His lawyers are hoping Saint Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner will bring the case before a judge. That’s a new legal option. Dunn could also petition the Governor, but Parson has been reluctant to free prisoners convicted of murder claiming innocence.