圣路易斯的一名法官周一发布书面命令，撤销对克里斯托弗·邓恩的谋杀定罪，他因一桩他坚称没有犯下的谋杀罪在密苏里州监狱服刑33年。
该命令是在两个月前的一次听证会上发布的，在那次听证会上，巡回法院法官杰森·森海瑟(Jason Sengheiser)听取了有利于邓恩无罪的证据，包括四年前的一次证据听证会的调查结果，当时首席法官宣布，鉴于目前的证据，如果邓恩今天受审，“合理、适当指示的陪审员将认定[邓恩]无罪。”
“总之，指控邓恩的唯一证据已经被撤回，”森海瑟裁决的法庭文件称。“[圣路易斯]巡回律师[加布·戈尔]已经清楚而令人信服地证明了‘实际无罪’，这破坏了邓恩定罪的基础，因为根据新的证据，没有一个陪审员会合理地投票认定邓恩犯有这些罪行，超出了合理的怀疑。”
据美联社报道，密苏里州总检察长安德鲁·贝利的办公室将对法官的判决提起上诉。贝利的办公室没有立即回复ABC新闻的置评请求，州检察官办公室也没有回复ABC新闻的声明请求，包括邓恩可能何时出狱。
1990年5月，15岁的里科·罗杰斯被枪杀，现年52岁的邓恩因一级谋杀罪被判无期徒刑，不得假释。
没有物证将当时18岁的邓恩与罗杰的谋杀案联系起来。对他的定罪是基于两名目击者的证词，他们说在枪击发生前看到邓恩在附近。证人——当时14岁的德莫里斯·斯特普和12岁的小迈克尔·戴维斯——分别在2005年和2015年撤回了证词。
目击者称，他们受到检察官和警察的胁迫，作证说邓恩有罪。州总检察长办公室在5月21日开始的听证会上作证说，他们从未胁迫、操纵或威胁证人。
邓恩的辩护律师在听证会上辩称，Stepp和戴维斯所谓的虚假证词是“不一致、不确定和不确定的”，是在他们还是孩子的时候做出的，Stepp和戴维斯在成年后纠正了他们的证词。
戈尔在今年2月提交了撤销邓恩谋杀罪名的动议。今年早些时候，戈尔在听证会的闭幕词中说:“没有证据表明一个合理的陪审团可以做出有罪的裁决。”。"事实上，法官大人，在这种情况下，根本没有任何证据."
密苏里州总检察长办公室的检察官坚持认为邓恩有罪，认为不管他们的证词如何，证人仍然能够通过照片和现场指认邓恩。
这是法官第二次审理邓恩的免责案件。在2020年的听证会上，德克萨斯州法官威廉·希克尔统治鉴于新的证据，以及证词的撤回，“合理地，适当地指示陪审员会发现[邓恩]无罪。”
尽管如此，邓恩并没有因为2016年密苏里州最高法院的一项裁决而被无罪释放，该裁决只允许死囚提出“独立”的无罪主张。
他的辩护团队在一份声明中告诉ABC新闻:“我们非常高兴很快就能迎来MIP(中西部清白项目)客户克里斯托弗·邓恩。”“司法部长办公室继续浪费纳税人的钱，因为它反对克里斯的释放，即使两名法官现在发现，今天没有陪审团会判克里斯有罪。"
2021年，密苏里州通过了一项新法这扩大了未被判死刑的被监禁者申请免罪的权利。法律允许检察官要求举行听证会，以撤销定罪，如果他们有信息表明，被定罪的人是无罪的，或在其他方面被错误定罪。
在5月份的听证会上，邓恩的辩护律师提出了法官希克尔在2020年的调查结果，即邓恩符合免责标准，并呼吁法官森盖瑟尔“建立实际的清白，允许你做法官希克尔不能做的事情。撤销对克里斯托弗·邓恩的错误判决。"
Judge issues ruling to vacate Missouri man's murder conviction
A judge in St. Louis issued a written order Monday vacating the murder conviction of Christopher Dunn, who has served 33 years in a Missouri prison for a murder he has maintained he did not commit.
The order follows a hearing two months ago during which Circuit Court Judge Jason Sengheiser heard evidence in favor of Dunn's exoneration, including findings from an evidentiary hearing four years ago in which the presiding judge declared that if Dunn were tried today given the current evidence, "reasonably, properly instructed jurors would find [Dunn] not guilty."
"In conclusion, the only evidence inculpating Dunn has been recanted," court documents of Sengheiser's ruling stated. "The [St. Louis] Circuit Attorney [Gabe Gore] has made a clear and convincing showing of 'actual innocence' that undermines the basis of Dunn's convictions because in light of the new evidence, no juror, acting reasonably, would have voted to find Dunn guilty of these crimes beyond a reasonable doubt."
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's office is going to appeal the judge's decision, according to the Associated Press. Bailey's office did not immediately return ABC News' request for comment, nor did the state prosecutor's office return ABC News' request for a statement, including when Dunn might be released from prison.
Dunn, 52, was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for a first-degree murder conviction in the death of 15-year-old Rico Rogers, who was shot to death in May 1990.
There is no physical evidence linking Dunn, who was 18 at the time, to Roger's murder. His conviction was based on the testimony of two eyewitnesses who said they saw Dunn nearby just before the shooting. The witnesses – DeMorris Stepp, then 14, and Michael Davis Jr., who was 12 – recanted their testimonies in 2005 and 2015, respectively.
The eyewitnesses said they were coerced by prosecutors and police to testify that Dunn was guilty. The state attorney general's office testified during the hearing, which began May 21, that they never coerced, manipulated or threatened the witnesses.
Defense attorneys for Dunn argued during the hearing that Stepp and Davis' alleged false testimonies were "inconsistent, uncertain and unsure" and made while they were children, and that Stepp and Davis corrected their testimony when they became adults.
Gore filed the motion to vacate Dunn's murder conviction in February this year. "There remains no evidence upon which a reasonable jury could return a verdict of guilty," Gore said in closing statements during the hearing earlier this year. "In fact your honor, in this case, there simply remains no evidence at all."
Prosecutors from the Missouri Attorney General's office maintained that Dunn was guilty, arguing that regardless of their testimonies, the witnesses were still able to identify Dunn via photo and a live lineup.
This is the second time a judge has heard Dunn's case for exoneration. In a 2020 evidentiary hearing, Texas County Judge William Hickleruledthat given the new evidence, and the recantations of the testimonies, "reasonably, properly instructed jurors would find [Dunn] not guilty."
Still, Dunn was not exonerated on account of a 2016 Missouri Supreme Court ruling that only allowed death row inmates to make a "freestanding" claim of innocence.
"We are overjoyed to soon be welcoming home MIP [Midwest Innocence Project] client Christopher Dunn," his defense team told ABC News in a statement. "The Attorney General's Office is continuing to waste taxpayer money as it fights Chris' release even though two judges have now found that no jury would convict Chris today."
In 2021, Missouri adopted anew lawthat expands the rights of incarcerated persons without death sentences to file for an exoneration. The law allows prosecutors to request hearings to vacate a conviction if they have information that demonstrates that the convicted person is not guilty, or was otherwise wrongfully convicted.
During the May hearing, Dunn's defense attorneys brought up Judge's Hickle's findings in 2020 that Dunn had met the standard for exoneration, and called on Judge Sengheiser to "establish actual innocence and allow you to do what Judge Hickel could not do. Vacate the wrongful conviction of Christopher Dunn."
