Louisiana death row conviction overturned; faulty forensics cited

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NEW ORLEANS — 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.”

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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.”

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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.

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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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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.

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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.

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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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