Missouri Man is Found "Not Guilty" but Still Held in Prison

I saw the tail end of a news story this morning about a man in Missouri, named Christopher Dunn, who spent 34 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. He was convicted of a crime based on faulty eyewitness testimony. Recently his conviction was overturned due to clear and convincing evidence that he was not the man who committed the crime. 

The tragedy of a man spending nearly a lifetime in prison for a crime he did not commit screams of injustice. You would think that the justice system would be lining up to apologize, to make sure he is immediately released, to make sure they make right the tragic wrong done to this man. But no, that's not what has happened. 

Despite the criminal justice system claiming that its aim is to carry out justice, this man remains behind bars, even though his conviction has been overturned, because the prosecuting attorney has appealed the ruling. He has not appealed the ruling because he believes Dunn is guilty. He KNOWS he's innocent. Instead, the prosecuting attorney has appealed this ruling "to preserve" something he doesn't even need. Dunn has been found not guilty by incontrovertible evidence!

Furthermore, because Missouri has no law allowing compensation for wrongfully convicted people, Dunn will leave prison with nothing to his name. He will not be compensated by the state for the 34 years they stole from him. How is that justice? Nothing can make that tragic injustice right, but the state isn't even interested in righting this wrong. They're only interested in keeping him in prison just a little longer. 

Dunn will be released within 30 days because that's when the court ruling becomes final, but he should have been immediately released. If the "justice system" really cared about justice, they'd be falling all over themselves to make this right...immediately! They wouldn't use judicial appeals to keep an innocent man behind bars. 

After more than 15 years in prison, I've come to believe that the "justice system" cares very little about justice. Prosecutors are supposed to seek justice, not convictions at any cost. Prosecutors are supposed to follow the law, not find loopholes to exact revenge, including on innocent people! Our "justice system" is terribly broken. 

I hope that you, my readers, are never falsely accused of a crime. "Innocent until proven guilty" is a fallacy, no longer an American judicial ideal. I also hope you're never faced with a frivolous lawsuit. If injustices like the one Dunn experienced can stand, than there's little hope for justice in civil suits that require even lower standards of proof. 

I even hope you never have to depend on the justice system to give you justice for a wrong done to you. Victim voices are too often silenced. The courts act like the crime was against the state, and victims are too often forgotten. 

Dunn, here, is a victim of injustice, and even a court ruling can't give him the long awaited freedom he deserves. He should have left that courtroom a free man, not held even longer at the whim of an unjust prosecutor. 

I hope the public rallies around Dunn and provides for him the compensation the state should be forced to pay him. He deserves far more than money for the 34 years the state stole from him, but that would be a just start.

As for the prosecutor? That's an elected position, so I hope the people of Missouri are as disgusted at this man's arrogance as I am and fire him on the next election!