Two high-profile criminal cases are drawing attention to the way Missouri courts handle claims of innocence. Last month, 34 years after his murder conviction, Chris Dunn was released from prison after his trial witnesses recanted their testimony.
It was an example of the way Missouri law has changed since 2021, when new legislation opened the door to wrongful conviction claims — while also giving prosecutors the legal tools to vacate those convictions and prison terms.
However, despite claiming innocence under the same law that ultimately freed Dunn — and Lamar Jonson before him — Marcellus Williams still faces execution on Sept. 24 for a murder he maintains he did not commit.
“This is a new area of the law for judges to have to grapple with,” said Booker T. Shaw, a former justice on the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District who assisted with the St. Louis circuit attorney’s review of the Chris Dunn case.
During Tuesday’s edition of the Legal Roundtable on St. Louis on the Air, Shaw noted the differences in the cases of Dunn and William. In Dunn’s case, the key evidence involved witness testimony. Williams’ claim of innocence rested on DNA testing of the murder weapon, a knife. However, prosecutors revealed in court this month that the knife and DNA evidence had been mishandled, undermining Williams’ case.
An Aug. 22 deal that would have seen Williams take an Alford plea to avoid the death penalty while serving life in prison was also undone after a challenge from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey.
The presence of physical evidence, including items belonging to the victim found in Williams’ car, makes his case different from Dunn’s.
“In the Chris Dunn case, it was the rare case where the only evidence was the recanted testimony of two kids who were 12 and 14 years old at the time,” Shaw said. “Under those circumstances, it fit the Supreme Court precedent. I think it was an easier call. Where there is other evidence, then proof of actual innocence is going to be more difficult.”
Along with Shaw, Tuesday’s Legal Roundtable panel included Bill Freivogel, an attorney and a professor of journalism at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and Sarah Swatosh, a labor and employment attorney who is in private practice at the Law Office of Sarah Swatosh.
To hear the full discussion and analysis by the Legal Roundtable, including about a $495 million verdict against the manufacturers of Similac baby formula, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcast, Spotify or Google Podcast or by clicking the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Roshae Hemmings is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr. Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
