The murder conviction of a man who has spent more than 30 years in prison has been overturned by a Missouri judge.
Christopher Dunn has been serving a life sentence without parole has always said he was innocent.
The ruling is likely to see Dunn walk free – but it was not made immediately clear when that would happen.
The ruling comes after a judge presided over a three-day hearing on Dunn’s fate in May.
Dunn, now 52, was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1990 shooting of 15-year-old Ricco Rogers.
A motion was filed in February seeking to vacate the guilty verdict.
And in the latest ruling, Judge Jason Sengheiser wrote: “The Circuit Attorney has made a clear and convincing showing of ‘actual innocence’ that undermines the basis for Dunn’s convictions because in light of new evidence, no juror, acting reasonably, would have voted to find Dunn guilty of these crimes beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Dunn’s attorney said she was “overjoyed” by the judge’s ruling.
“Now, Chris looks forward to spending time with his wife and family as a free man,” Tricia Rojo Bushnell said in a statement.
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office opposed the effort to overturn Dunn’s conviction.
Lawyers for the state said at the May hearing that initial testimony from two boys at the scene who identified Dunn as the shooter was correct, even though they later recanted as adults.
“That verdict was accurate, and that verdict should stand,” Assistant Attorney General Tristin Estep said at the hearing.
It is not yet known if the state will appeal.
Rogers was shot on 18 May, 1990, when a gunman opened fire while he was with a group of other teenage boys outside a home.
DeMorris Stepp, 14, and Michael Davis Jr, 12, both initially identified Dunn as the shooter.
Martha Dunn, the mother of Christopher Dunn, listens to testimony. Pic: Laurie Skrivan/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP, Pool
In a recorded interview played at the hearing, Davis said he lied because he thought Dunn was affiliated with a rival gang.
Stepp’s story has changed a few times over the years. Most recently he has said he did not see Dunn as the shooter, according to St Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore.
Dunn has said he was at his mother’s home at the time of the shooting.
Childhood friend Nicole Bailey testified that she spoke with him by phone that night and he was on a phone at his mother’s house.
