BATON ROUGE – Jimmie Duncan, released from death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola after a judge found there had been no grounds for prosecuting him on charges of murdering 23-month-old Haley Oliveaux in 1993, went before the Louisiana Supreme Court this week to fight for his innocence once again.
Duncan, 57, who spent 27 years on death row at Angola before being released last year, was convicted of first-degree murder and sexual assault in a 1998 trial that leaned heavily on testimony by Dr. Steven Hayne, a medical pathologist. Hayne later was terminated from his position over questions about his findings and testimony in other cases.
Bite-mark evidence by Dr. Michael West, a Mississippi forensic odontologist, was introduced at trial, but West was not called to testify because he had been temporarily suspended by a professional board.
Judge Alvin R. Sharp, who oversaw judicial matters in Ouachita and Morehouse parishes, presided over a 2024 evidentiary hearing in which expert testimony concluded that Duncan’s conviction was based on bite-mark evidence, which has since been invalidated, and a faulty medical autopsy. Sharp was the judge who ruled there were not sufficient grounds to prosecute Duncan.
Haley’s medical history, including a brain injury that occurred a few weeks before her death and a pattern of seizures, was also not taken into consideration at the original hearing. Duncan’s own counsel had made a deal with prosecutors to not share that evidence at trial.
Defense attorney Mathilde Jean Carbia argued on Tuesday before the Louisiana Supreme Court that Duncan had ineffective counsel at the original trial and added that the validity of bite-mark science has evolved as well as sexual assault diagnosis in children.
She said if Duncan were tried today, charges that Haley was sexually assaulted would not have been supported.
“Jimmie Christian Duncan is an innocent man, and Haley Oliveaux was not murdered,” Carbia said.
District Attorney Steve Tew, who represents Ouachita and Morehouse parishes, argued on behalf of the state that Sharp, who was on the bench for 30 years and was widely respected, made a legal error in freeing Duncan. Tew said a change in science does not constitute new evidence and does not support Duncan’s innocence.
“We don’t need the bite-mark evidence to put Mr. Duncan in this apartment alone with this child,” he said.
When pressed about what proof the state prosecutors have to convict Duncan of first-degree murder, Tew said the original claims of sexual assault were valid as well as the testimony of a jailhouse inmate who claimed Duncan confessed to him.
Michael Cruse, a jail inmate, testified in 1998 that Duncan had admitted his guilt to him. An investigator later testified that Cruse lied at the original trial to get leniency in sentencing. Cruse claimed that he had heard two separate “confessions.”
“He’s not a priest or anything?” asked Chief Justice John L. Weimer.
Members of Haley’s family, including her paternal aunt, Jennifer Berry, and mother, Allison Layton Statham, were seated in the courtroom. Both are convinced of Duncan’s innocence and participated in “The Murder that Never Happened,” a documentary directed by Catherine Legge, which detailed Duncan’s case and the evidence they say exonerates him.
While Tew made his arguments before the court, members of Haley’s family shook their heads in visible disagreement.
At one point, Tew argued that the emergency room doctor who examined Haley following the incident detected excessive washing of the child’s bottom, alluding to the possibility that Duncan covered up evidence of sexual assault. In response to this claim, Statham leaned forward in her chair and dropped her jaw in disbelief.
When asked if the death penalty could be reasonably imposed, Carbia, Duncan’s defense attorney, asserted “no.”
She explained that even if the charge were changed to negligent homicide, Duncan already has served nearly three times that sentence in prison.
“Considering the science that stands today, it is much more probable than not that no rational juror would find Mr. Duncan guilty of first-degree murder or any lesser included homicide,” Carbia said.
The state attorney general’s office responded to an interview request with a written statement.
“Post-conviction relief is a proceeding with a limited scope and purpose,” wrote Attorney General Liz Murrill. “We urged the Louisiana Supreme Court to preserve the integrity of that process.”
The Supreme Court will determine if Duncan returns to death row. If the court maintains Duncan’s innocence, Tew said state prosecutors would still push for the original conviction.
“We intend to retry this case,” Tew said. “If we have to, we intend to retry the case.”
This story was reported and written by a student journalist with the support of the non-profit Louisiana Collegiate News Collaborative, an LSU-led coalition of eight universities funded by the Henry Luce and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur foundations.
