Luke Nozicka, an investigator at the Midwest Innocence Project representing Christopher Dunn, reported that the Missouri Supreme Court has stayed the Circuit Court’s order for Dunn’s release and has requested additional briefing. Despite two courts finding credible evidence of Dunn’s innocence, he remains behind bars with no remaining conviction. Nozicka emphasized that an innocent person being incarcerated is not justice, and the team will explore every avenue to secure Dunn’s freedom.
On Wednesday, Bailey filed a writ seeking assistance from the higher court, after previously expressing his intentions to appeal the circuit court ruling.
Sengheiser was granted a deadline until 5 p.m. on Friday by the Supreme Court to provide a response to Bailey’s motion.
In court records, Layla Husen, an attorney from Thompson Coburn who represented the St. Louis circuit attorney’s office, testified on Wednesday regarding a conversation she had with Matt Briesacher, the chief counsel for the Missouri Department of Corrections.
According to the affidavit, she made a call to the South Central Correctional Center on Monday to ensure that Dunn was released immediately as per the circuit judge’s order. However, Briesacher informed her that the Department of Corrections was directed by the attorney general’s office not to release Dunn, as stated in the phone conversation.
According to the affidavit, Mr. Briesacher revealed that the Department of Corrections had received instructions to not release Mr. Dunn. This was due to the fact that the Attorney General’s Office had filed an appeal and required more ‘clarity’ on whether Mr. Dunn should be released while the appeal was pending. Since the motion to vacate proceeding was considered a civil action, the DOC couldn’t release Mr. Dunn until the Attorney General’s Office agreed to it.
According to Husen, she made it clear to Briesacher that not complying with the request was not appropriate. In response, Briesacher explained that the attorney general’s office serves as legal counsel for the Department of Corrections and that the department must follow the advice given by their counsel.
In February, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore made a request to the court to overturn Dunn’s conviction in the case of 15-year-old Ricco Rogers’ fatal shooting. According to him, the evidence demonstrated that Dunn was not guilty of the murder he was charged with.
Despite Bailey’s opposition, Sengheiser made a ruling in favor of the St. Louis prosecutor’s motion on Monday. The prosecutor was able to provide substantial evidence that undermines the basis for Dunn’s convictions, which convinced Sengheiser of Dunn’s actual innocence. The judge believed that, in light of this new evidence, no reasonable juror would have found Dunn guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
In the case of Sandra Hemme, Bailey opposed her release despite evidence of her “actual innocence” in the fatal stabbing of a woman in St. Joseph, Mo. Hemme had spent 43 years in prison before the judge ordered her release on June 14. Bailey’s appeals to the Missouri Supreme Court delayed her release until last Friday, when she was finally freed from the Chillicothe Correctional Center.
