The office of Missouri’s attorney general has spent recent years opposing the release of people found to be wrongfully convicted — even when courts order their release. One key issue in this extended legal battle is the subject of “actual innocence,” a type of legal claim that for decades has been limited to death penalty cases.
A 2021 law changed the landscape for claims of innocence, leading to the release of several individuals who had spent most of their lives in prison. That included Christopher Dunn, who served more than 30 years behind bars before a St. Louis judge vacated his conviction last summer.
Despite that development, Dunn’s continued freedom isn’t assured: Last month, the Missouri attorney general’s office presented arguments to the state Supreme Court that it should be allowed to appeal Dunn’s release.
“Innocence has never been enough according to the attorney general's office,” Dunn told St. Louis on the Air. “Right now I'm just sitting here waiting to see if the Missouri Supreme Court is going to rule with the consciousness of the law.”
While Missouri’s attorney general continues its appeal in Dunn’s case, the office is also opposing a bill introduced this year to expand the scope of who can legally submit a claim of “actual innocence” to a court. Under a 2021 law, prosecutors in the county where the conviction occurred must seek to evaluate cases for possible innocence. The new bill, HB 1075, would allow people currently in the custody of the Department of Corrections to initiate a claim of innocence even if they are not on death row.
On Feb. 26, the bill received a public hearing in the House Judiciary Committee. Dunn and several other exonerees testified in favor. The bill was opposed by First Assistant Attorney General Jay Atkins.
Atkins criticized the bill for not including victims as part of the expanded legal process for making claims of innocence. He warned the bill would lead to tens of thousands of claims flooding the court system, adding that the proposal “undermines our system of justice in a way [that is] worse than any bill I have ever seen.”
Kenya Brumfield-Young, a criminologist and professor at St. Louis University, testified in favor of the bill at the hearing last month. On Tuesday’s St. Louis on the Air, she pushed back on the opposition from Atkins and the Missouri attorney general. “I think the greater miscarriage of justice,” she said, “is the fact that we have people who are sitting in prison for things that we didn't do.”
The Missouri’s attorney general’s fixation on preserving convictions is “a consistent position,” observed Charlie Weiss, an attorney with Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner.
“As long as I've worked with them, they have just unqualifiedly been opposed to anyone applying for innocence,” Weiss said. “It’s confusing and puzzling why they would do that. Because we are all in a justice system, justice should prevail here. The common sense that someone [who] is innocent should not be kept in prison… there shouldn't be a debate on that.”
Weiss’s past legal work has led to the release of five people – all found innocent after spending years in prison for crimes they did not commit. He was also part of the legal team assembled by the St. Louis circuit attorney’s office, which successfully argued for the innocence of Lamar Johnson in 2022.
Weiss joined Brumfield-Young on Tuesday’s St. Louis on the Air to discuss Missouri’s innocence laws, the state attorney general’s opposition to HB 1075 and the impact of the office’s appeal of Chris Dunn’s 2024 release.
To hear the full conversation with attorney Charlie Weiss and criminologist Kenya Brumfield-Young, as well as insight from Kira Dunn, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, or click 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. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr. Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
