In New Orleans, a man from Louisiana who has been on death row for nearly 30 years had his conviction overturned by a district judge. This decision follows a critical review of forensic evidence, which the defendant’s legal team argued was based on unreliable science. Jimmie Duncan was convicted of first-degree murder in 1998 after accusations of raping and drowning his girlfriend’s toddler in a bathtub.
The prosecution’s case heavily relied on bite mark analysis and an autopsy, conducted by experts later associated with wrongful convictions, whom Duncan’s lawyers denounced as discredited figures. Despite these accusations, Duncan consistently asserted his innocence.
Judge Alvin Sharp from the Fourth Judicial District Court dismissed Duncan’s murder conviction last week—a decision initially reported by Verite News. Expert testimonies suggest the bite mark analysis lacked scientific credibility, and recent evidence indicates that the child’s death may have been an “accidental drowning.” Furthermore, the judge received evidence that a critical jailhouse informant retracted his testimony and that Duncan received inadequate representation during his trial. Ouachita Parish District Attorney Robert Tew now faces the choice to appeal, pursue a retrial with fresh evidence, or abide by the judge’s ruling, potentially leading to Duncan’s release. Tew has not made any statements on the matter, as his office deliberates on their next steps.
Duncan’s legal representatives have been silent publicly but assert in filings that “this case bears all the earmarks of a wrongful conviction.” Bite mark analysis, the evidence core to Duncan’s original conviction, is increasingly criticized as “junk science,” according to the Innocence Project, a group dedicated to rectifying wrongful convictions.
Mississippi-based forensic dentist Michael West and pathologist Steven Hayne, involved in the earlier autopsy, have been implicated in at least 10 wrongful convictions in other cases, as per Duncan’s defense team. Court filings described a video showing West pressing a mold of Duncan’s teeth into the toddler’s body, producing the bite marks used against him at trial. A state-appointed expert, unaware of the method used, testified that the marks matched Duncan’s dental pattern. At a hearing in September, Dr. Adam Freeman, a forensic dentist brought in by Duncan’s lawyers, testified that bite mark analysis assumptions are no longer scientifically valid and fall under “junk science.”
Hayne testified during the murder trial that Duncan assaulted and drowned the child, but forensic advances have since suggested that the injuries were not attributable to abuse. Notably, a sexual assault kit returned negative results, and no blood was detected, according to expert witnesses in Duncan’s latest hearing. Expert opinions criticized Hayne’s methods as “sloppy” and “inadequate.” Although Hayne once conducted the majority of Mississippi’s autopsies, his work has been persistently challenged for being error-prone. Hayne passed away in 2020. West, who has not responded to recent inquiries, previously acknowledged DNA testing had rendered bite mark analysis outdated but has upheld past testimonies in other cases where convictions were overturned.
Meanwhile, the state of Louisiana is debating changes to its post-conviction relief laws, an avenue Duncan pursued for the current reconsideration of his case. The proposed legislation aims to tighten timelines for filing post-conviction petitions, requiring submissions within a year after a conviction and sentencing finalize. Attorney General Liz Murrill, though silent on Duncan’s case, argued in a legislative hearing that delays in the current system inhibit timely justice for victims’ families and create repetitive appeals, especially in capital punishment cases. Critics fear the legislative change could risk the incarceration or execution of innocent individuals. Since 1989, at least 11 death row inmates in Louisiana have been exonerated, according to the National Exoneration Registry.
Samantha Kennedy, of the advocacy group Promise of Justice Initiative, sharply criticized the state’s approach to capital punishment, citing an “atrocious” record of upholding death convictions. Louisiana currently has 55 individuals on death row. After a 15-year pause, the state executed its first death row inmate in March.