Louisiana death row inmate freed after nearly 30 years as overturned conviction upends case

A Louisiana antheral who spent astir 30 years connected decease enactment walked retired of situation Wednesday aft a justice overturned his condemnation and granted him bail.

Jimmie Duncan, present successful his 60s, was sentenced to decease successful 1998 for the alleged rape and drowning of his girlfriend’s 23-month-old daughter, Haley Oliveaux — a lawsuit agelong clouded by disputed forensic testimony. His merchandise comes months aft a authorities justice ruled that the grounds prosecutors utilized to unafraid the condemnation was unreliable and rooted successful discredited bite-mark analysis.

Fourth Judicial District Court Judge Alvin Sharp tossed the condemnation successful April, concluding that the adept grounds presented astatine proceedings was "not scientifically defensible" and that the toddler’s decease appeared accordant with an accidental drowning. 

"The presumption is not large that helium is guilty," Sharp wrote successful his bid past week granting Duncan bail, pointing to caller grounds presented astatine an evidentiary proceeding past twelvemonth and the information that the antheral had nary erstwhile transgression history.

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Jimmie Duncan, 2nd from left, with household and friends astatine the Louisiana State Penitentiary known arsenic Angola. (Mwalimu Center for Justice via AP)

Similar faulty forensic wound people investigation has resulted successful dozens of different wrongful convictions oregon charges.

Duncan’s attorneys said successful a connection that Sharp’s ruling successful April showed "clear and convincing grounds showing that Mr. Duncan is factually innocent," adding that Duncan's merchandise connected bail "marks a important measurement guardant for Mr. Duncan’s implicit exoneration."

Duncan was released aft posting a $150,000 bond. He plans to unrecorded with a comparative successful cardinal Louisiana portion his vacated condemnation is being reviewed by the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, a Republican who has pushed to velocity up executions, objected to Duncan’s merchandise and argued helium should stay down bars until the state’s precocious tribunal reaches a decision. But the Louisiana Supreme Court allowed the territory tribunal to regularisation connected Duncan’s bail request, paving the mode for his release.

More than 200 decease enactment inmates nationwide person been cleared since 1973, including a twelve successful Louisiana, according to the Death Penalty Information Center — 1 of the highest wrongful-conviction rates successful the country. Louisiana has 1 of the highest wrongful condemnation rates successful the country. The past decease enactment exoneration successful the Bayou State was successful 2016.

Duncan was 1 of 55 radical connected decease enactment successful Louisiana astatine the authorities situation known arsenic Angola. Louisiana carried retired its archetypal execution successful 15 years earlier this year.

During past week’s bail hearing, the victim’s parent stunned the courtroom erstwhile she said she present believes Duncan did not termination her daughter. She told the justice that the child, who had a past of seizures, apt drowned accidentally.

A Louisiana corrections serviceman looks retired from a operation by Camp 57 astatine Angola Prison, the Louisiana State Penitentiary and America's largest maximum-security situation farm. (Getty Images)

Statham said her girl "wasn’t killed," stressing that "Haley died due to the fact that she was sick."

She told the tribunal that the lives of her household and Duncan "have been destroyed by the lie" she says prosecutors and forensic experts had made up.

Prosecutors had relied heavy connected bite-mark investigation and autopsy findings from forensic dentist Michael West and pathologist Steven Hayne — 2 experts aboriginal tied to aggregate overturned convictions. 

Defense attorneys said a video of the autopsy shows West pressing a dental mold into the toddler’s skin, creating the precise wound marks aboriginal attributed to Duncan. A state-appointed expert, unaware of the video, testified astatine proceedings that the marks matched Duncan’s teeth.

"The fearfulness communicative that they enactment retired and desecrated my baby’s representation makes maine infuriated," Statham said.

"I was not informed of thing that would person exonerated Mr. Duncan astatine all," she continued. "Had I been then, things would person turned retired a batch antithetic for Mr. Duncan and each of our families."

In the past 25 years, determination person been astatine slightest 2 twelve wrongful convictions oregon charges that relied connected wound people analysis.

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The entranceway to the Louisiana State Penitentiary, known arsenic Angola. (Giles Clarke/Getty Images)

Innocence Project lawyer M. Chris Fabricant blasted the forensic methods utilized successful the case, telling the tribunal that "bite-mark grounds is junk science" and remains among the astir prejudicial forms of flawed forensic grounds inactive admitted successful U.S. courts.

West and Hayne’s enactment has been linked to respective wrongful convictions, including those of Mississippi men Levon Brooks and Kennedy Brewer, who served a combined 30 years earlier DNA grounds cleared them.

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Despite the caller revelations, prosecutors are inactive seeking to reinstate Duncan’s condemnation and person cited the archetypal 1994 expansive assemblage indictment successful arguing helium should stay incarcerated.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.