Missouri Supreme Court blocks release of man with overturned conviction as he was about to go free

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court has blocked the immediate release of a man whose murder conviction was overturned — just as the man was about to walk free.

A St. Louis Circuit Court judge had ordered Christopher Dunn to be released by 6 p.m. CDT Wednesday and threatened the prison warden with contempt if Dunn remained imprisoned. But the attorney general has been fighting his release.

Corrections Department spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said Dunn was signing paperwork to be released when the Missouri Supreme Court issued a stay, blocking his freedom. His wife was en route to pick him up.

St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser’s decision to release Dunn came after he overturned Dunn’s murder conviction Monday, citing evidence of “actual innocence” in the 1990 killing. He ordered Dunn's immediate release then, but Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey appealed, and the state Department of Corrections declined to release him.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore filed a motion Wednesday urging the judge to immediately order Dunn’s freedom.

“The Attorney General cannot unilaterally decide to ignore this Court’s Order,” Gore wrote.

A court filing said an attorney for the Department of Corrections told a lawyer in Gore's office that Bailey advised the agency not to release Dunn until the appeal plays out. When told it was improper to ignore a court order, the Department of Corrections attorney “responded ...