Jimmie Duncan spent nearly three decades on death row facing execution for a crime that forensic evidence now proves was fabricated.
Last month, the Louisiana Supreme Court unanimously upheld the decision to overturn his murder conviction, capping a 32-year legal battle against discredited forensic methods and state prosecutors, as originally reported by NBCNews.com.
Duncan, now 57, was initially arrested in December 1993 after 23-month-old Haley Oliveaux drowned in a bathtub while under his care. Duncan told authorities he placed the child in a couple of inches of water while cleaning, heard a noise shortly after, and found her face down.
He rushed to neighbors while attempting CPR, crying and shouting for the girl to wake up. Hospital staff and the lead detective noted no bite marks on the toddler’s body, and police initially filed charges for negligent homicide.
The trajectory of the case changed after investigators sent the toddler’s body to Mississippi for an autopsy by forensic pathologist Steven Hayne and forensic dentist Michael West. During a videotaped examination, West pressed a mold of Duncan’s teeth into the toddler’s cheek, arm, and elbow dozens of times, jabbing and dragging the cast across her skin.
West declared the marks on the child were a “positive match” to Duncan, leading Hayne to conclude the toddler was sexually assaulted and forcibly drowned. Prosecutors then upgraded Duncan’s charge to first-degree murder.
During Duncan’s 1998 trial, former District Attorney Jerry Jones told the jury that Duncan killed the girl during a sexual assault, claiming in opening statements that Duncan “rode that baby like a bull.” Defense attorneys asked for the video of West’s examination, but the presiding judge ruled it did not contain evidence favorable to the defense, leaving the jury unaware of how the skin marks were generated. Duncan was convicted and sentenced to die, spending 27 years in a 6-by-9½-foot cell at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola.
The methods used by Hayne and West have since been completely denounced by scientific and legal institutions.
A 2009 National Academy of Sciences report found no scientific basis for matching bite marks to individuals, and West himself formally disavowed bite mark analysis in a 2012 deposition, stating to NBC News, “I no longer believe in bite mark analysis. I don’t think it should be used in court.” Duncan is one of at least 10 people—including four death row prisoners—wrongfully convicted due to findings by Hayne, who died in 2020, and West.
In 2022, the Innocence Project joined Duncan’s legal team to challenge the conviction under a Louisiana law allowing appeals based on new evidence of factual innocence.
The 1993 video served as a central exhibit during a six-day hearing in 2024. Retired District Court Judge Alvin Sharp, who granted Duncan’s release and vacated the conviction in 2025, described the tape as shocking, noting that West was “absolutely creating marks on that baby’s body.”
The child’s mother, Allison Layton, who spent decades believing Duncan killed her daughter, reversed her stance after viewing the footage in 2024. “They railroaded this man,” Layton said. “They fabricated evidence, they desecrated my daughter and videotaped it.”
Duncan was released on bail in November 2025 and currently works an overnight shelf-stocking job at Walmart while living under the threat of a new trial. Current Ouachita Parish District Attorney Steve Tew told local reporters he plans to prosecute Duncan again, stating, “We want to try him for murder.” Former prosecutor Jerry Jones acknowledged that the bite mark evidence “was bad,” but maintained his belief in Duncan’s guilt.
Despite the Louisiana Supreme Court ruling in his favor, Duncan remains in legal limbo without formal compensation or a complete dismissal of charges.
“Thirty-two years of experience tells me that I should worry,” Duncan told NBC News. “I just expect that they’re going to keep trying to cover their tracks. They’re never going to own up to the things that were done.”
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