Louisiana death row conviction overturned as man's lawyers cite faulty
forensic analysis
[April 29, 2025]
By JACK BROOK and SARA CLINE
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana man who has spent nearly three decades on
death row has had his conviction overturned by a district judge
following a review of forensic analysis that the inmate's legal team
argued was based on “junk science.”
Jimmie Duncan was originally convicted of first-degree murder in 1998
after being accused by prosecutors of raping and drowning his
girlfriend's toddler in a bathtub.
Prosecutors relied on bite mark analysis and an autopsy performed by two
experts — later linked to wrongful convictions — whom Duncan's legal
team described as discredited “charlatans.” Duncan has long maintained
his innocence.
Fourth Judicial District Court Judge Alvin Sharp threw out Duncan's
first-degree murder conviction in a ruling issued last week — first
reported by Verite News. The judge heard expert testimony that the bite
mark analysis was “not scientifically defensible” and that death
appeared to be the result of “accidental drowning.”
The judge also received evidence that a jailhouse informant had recanted
his testimony and that Duncan received ineffective counsel during his
trial.
Ouachita Parish District Attorney Robert Tew can choose to appeal, seek
a retrial with new evidence and testimony or accept the ruling, leading
to Duncan's release. Tew declined to comment, and a representative from
his office said prosecutors are “assessing options in this case."
Duncan’s legal team declined to comment, but wrote in court filings that
“this case has all the hallmarks of wrongful conviction.”
Why is bite mark analysis considered a “junk science”?
Dozens of people have been wrongfully convicted, arrested or charged
based on faulty bite mark evidence, according to the Innocence Project,
a nonprofit focused on exonerating wrongful convictions.
Mississippi-based forensic dentist Michael West and pathologist Steven
Hayne examined the body of Duncan's girlfriend's daughter, Haley
Oliveaux.
Duncan's legal team stated in court filings that the pair's analysis has
in the past been linked to at least 10 wrongful convictions, calling it
“unreliable.”
A video recording of the examination shows West “forcibly pushing a mold
of Mr. Duncan's teeth into the child's body — creating the bite marks”
later used to convict him, a court-filing from Duncan's legal team
stated. A state-appointed expert, unaware of this method, testified
during trial that the bite marks on the body matched Duncan's.
Dr. Adam Freeman, an expert forensic dentist called by Duncan's legal
team to testify at a hearing last September, said the assumptions
underlying bite mark analysis are “no longer valid” and are the product
of “junk science”, court filings show.
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Death Row building at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, Sept. 18,
2009, in Angola, La. (AP Photo/Judi Bottoni, File)
Hayne told jurors during the murder trial that Duncan anally raped
and forcibly drowned Oliveaux. But expert witnesses called by
Duncan's legal team argued that advances in forensic science show
that the rashes and injuries on Oliveaux were not caused by abuse.
They pointed out that a sexual assault testing kit also came back
negative and no blood was found.
Expert witnesses at September's hearing also criticized Hayne's
analysis as “sloppy” and “inadequate." While Hayne once performed
the majority of the autopsies in Mississippi, his work has been
repeatedly attacked in court as being error-ridden and unscientific.
Hayne died in 2020, ProPublica reported. West did not return calls
to phone numbers affiliated with him. He has previously said that
DNA testing has made bite mark analysis obsolete, but has defended
his testimony in other cases that led to overturned convictions in
murder cases.
Louisiana Legislature debates restricting post-conviction relief
Louisiana lawmakers are currently considering a bill to overhaul the
state’s post-conviction relief process, a legal avenue Duncan used
to bring new evidence before a judge after all appeals were
exhausted.
The proposed bill would shorten the timeline for prisoners seeking
post-conviction relief. They would have to file a petition within
one year after the “judgment of conviction and sentence has become
final,” based on the bill’s language.
Attorney General Liz Murrill declined to comment on Duncan's case.
She testified in a committee hearing last week that under the
current system there are too many delays, and as a result, victims’
families may wait decades for justice to be served.
Murrill said the post-conviction process has allowed “endless and
repetitive” appeals to continue to be filed, especially in capital
punishment cases: “We are still trying to get victims justice and
get their family members justice."
Those opposed to the bill fear that it could increase the odds that
innocent people will have to serve out sentences or be executed for
crimes they did not commit. Since 1989, at least 11 people sentenced
to death in Louisiana have been exonerated, according to the
National Exoneration Registry, a database tracking wrongful
convictions.
“The state of Louisiana is reckless with the lives of human beings,”
said Samantha Kennedy, executive director of the advocacy group
Promise of Justice Initiative. “The state’s ever-worsening track
record for death convictions reveals its tremendous incompetence,
indifference, and even malice.”
There are 55 people on death row in Louisiana. After a 15-year
hiatus, Louisiana carried out its first execution in March.
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