ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Missouri man was freed from prison Tuesday after his murder conviction was overturned after 34 years behind bars, despite the state attorney general’s efforts to keep him there.

“I never gave up because my family never gave up,” Christopher Dunn said from the steps of the downtown St. Louis courthouse. “It’s easy to give up in prison when you lose hope. But when the system throws you away, you have to ask yourself if you wanted to just settle for it or fight for it.”

Dunn, 52, reunited with his wife, Kira Dunn, as he was officially released from the St. Louis city jail Tuesday night. As his release drew imminent, he was driven by van from the state prison in Licking, Missouri, to St. Louis, about 140 miles (225 kilometers) away.

A St. Louis circuit judge overturned Dunn’s murder conviction on July 22 and ordered his immediate release. But Dunn remained imprisoned amid a chaotic process that began when Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey appealed to try and keep Dunn locked up.

When asked about the delay since the judge’s ruling, Dunn said, “It was testing. To hear the decision by the judge and then be prepared to leave on Wednesday, only to be brought back to prison. It was torture.”

    • @meco03211
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      274 months ago

      How do they rationalize it as a loss for themselves? Unless they had a hand in the original case, you’d think they could just say, “yeah the last guy fucked up. Look how great I am though making sure this innocent person gets out of prison?”

      • @[email protected]
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        fedilink
        64 months ago

        They do it to look “tough on crime”. A lot of people don’t seem to realize that the legal system in the us isn’t for the citizens benefit.

        Its about stomping that boot down, hard and having people listen.

        Its why this dude has done this, three separate times (did it last year too) and will never, EVER face any kind of repercussions other than a few news articles.

        The proof is in the pudding. If they actually gave a fuck about justice people like this shit stain Andrew Bailey wouldn’t be able to pull shit like this.

        Just the justice system working how they designed it.

    • @davidgro
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      134 months ago

      So do national news articles about how villainous they are.