Christopher Jernigan spent over 24 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. On September 27, 2002, he was wrongfully convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences with the possibility of parole.
Christopher’s conviction rested largely on the false testimony of a heavily incentivized witness who claimed he had confessed to her immediately after the homicide. In exchange for her testimony, the witness’s pending criminal charges were dismissed, and her husband, who was incarcerated at the time, was immediately released from custody.
Twenty years later, post-conviction DNA testing excluded Christopher from three critical pieces of evidence collected at the homicide scene: the murder weapon, the victim’s pockets that had been rummaged through, and a plastic baggie found in an open drawer that had the victim’s blood transferred onto it. The testing also identified a consistent unknown male DNA profile on the evidence, excluding Christopher from evidence touched by the perpetrator.
In January 2023, RMIC and co-counsel Anne Freeland of the law firm Michael Best & Friedrich filed Christopher’s Motion for a New Trial based on the exculpatory DNA results. On May 23, 2024, the District Court granted the motion and ordered a new trial. The District Attorney’s Office appealed the decision.
On February 4, 2025, the Nevada Supreme Court affirmed the District Court’s order, noting that the new DNA evidence “could refute all of the testimonial evidence given during trial, except for Jernigan’s.”
After the case was remanded by the appellate court, the State indicated its intention to retry Christopher. RMIC attorneys John Arrascada and Kirsty Pickering joined the litigation team in preparation for the retrial.
However, on October 7, 2026, the District Attorney filed a motion to dismiss the case rather than proceed to trial. Following a hearing on October 8, 2026, the District Court dismissed the case with prejudice. The Court acknowledged the District Attorney’s position that, after reviewing both the original trial evidence and the newly discovered evidence, the State could no longer prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
That same afternoon, Christopher was released from custody after serving more than 24 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.