Help Chris Dunn After Three Decades of Wrongful Imprisonment

Christopher Dunn was a young man when he was wrongly convicted of a 1990 murder in St. Louis, Missouri. His conviction was based on the word of two boys who recanted years ago. Chris has been fighting for his freedom for more than three decades – and, on July 30, 2024 - finally returned home after a court found him actually innocent and ordered his release.

Chris not only had the support of the Midwest Innocence Project, but also St. Louis’ top prosecutor. The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office filed a motion to vacate Chris conviction and presented evidence that Chris, now 52, has spent more than half of his life in prison for a crime he did not commit. Chris’ innocence has been known for years: In 2020, a Missouri circuit court judge, after hearing all the evidence, determined that no juror would convict Chris, but he was unable to free Chris because in Missouri, innocence alone is not enough to overturn a person’s conviction unless they were sentenced to death. Missouri is the only state in the nation to limit innocence claims by a person’s sentence.

For Chris, that meant he would have been freed in 2020 had he been sentenced to die. Instead, he has remained behind bars for four additional years because he was sentenced to life in prison plus 90 years. That is not justice. Until Missouri lawmakers changes the law, only a prosecutor can ask a court to free an innocent person who was sentenced to anything less than death.

Your support will help Chris re-enter society with some financial resources. Chris’ legal team is working pro bono and 100% of the funds raised here will go to him to help him rebuild his life. He needs our help.

Please consider donating if you are able. Thank you for supporting Chris as he begins his new life.