Sophie-May Williams
Published December 1, 2025 2:43pm
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A man who has spent 27 years on death row has been released on bail after his murder conviction was overturned. Jimmie Duncan, 57, from Louisiana, USA, endured almost three decades on death row for the 'murder' of his then girlfriend's toddler, twenty-three-month-old Haley Oliveaux, who died in December 1993. (Picture: AP)
Duncan's attorney, Chris Fabricant, said in a statement that his client's release marked a 'significant step forward in his long fight for justice.' He described Duncan's incarceration as a 'gross miscarriage of justice,' and said that if he had eventually been executed, it would have been a 'moral outrage'. Duncan's conviction was overturned earlier this year and he was released on bail last week (November 26), according to Associated Press (AP). (Picture: AP)
Fabricant added that Duncan was 'wrongly convicted based on the fraudulent forensics, woefully ineffective defense counsel, and the state’s patent misconduct.' Duncan was convicted of first-degree murder in 1998 and was incarcerated at Angola State Prison in Louisiana. He was accused of drowning Oliveaux, with his bite marks also allegedly being found on the toddler's body. (Picture: MATTHEW HINTON/AFP via Getty Images)
Innocence Project say the bite marks were the result of forensic fraud. They say experts used a mould of Duncan's teeth to create the marks on the body which were then 'matched' to Duncan at the trial. It argues the jury never saw the videotape showing these marks being created, which it calls 'stark evidence of forensic fraud'. (Picture: The Murder That Never Happened via Facebook)
Innocence Project, which 'work to free the innocent, prevent wrongful convictions, and create fair, compassionate, and equitable systems of justice for everyone,' said in a press release that 4th Judicial District Judge Alvin Sharp’s latest ruling found Duncan 'factually innocent' of the murder. Sharp said that the evidence that put Duncan in jail was the result of 'improper' evidence and two new experts stated that Oliveaux's death was a result of 'accidental drowning', according to the ruling. AP reported that Duncan was released on $150,000 bond. Sharp wrote in an order granting Duncan bail that 'the presumption is not great that he is guilty.' (Picture: AP)
Innocence Project, whose attorneys have represented Duncan, said in a breaking article on their site: 'The State has appealed the decision finding Mr. Duncan factually innocent and vacating his conviction to the Louisiana Supreme Court, which will hear Mr. Duncan’s case in early 2026.' Scott Greene, who is on Duncan's long-time pro bono team at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, said that their client is 'one step closer to the life stripped away from him so many years ago.' Greene stressed that he and his team are 'committed to reaching the moment when he walks as a fully free, innocent man.' (Picture: veritenews.org/The Murder That Never Happened)
An account according to the Innocence Project says that on December 18, 1993, Duncan was bathing his step-daughter. When he briefly stepped away from the tub, he returned to find her unconscious. After performing CPR and calling neighbours for help, paramedics arrived to try and save Oliveaux. Sadly, doctors were unable to revive her, and she was pronounced dead at the hospital. (Picture: MATTHEW HINTON/AFP via Getty Images)
Allison Layton Statham, Duncan's former partner and mother of the deceased, told the judge at the bail hearing in Ouachita Parish that she was convinced of his innocence. She said she believed that her daughter had accidentally drowned. According to court reports, Statham reportedly said Oliveaux 'wasn't killed.' Rather, she 'died because she was sick.' (Picture: Giles Clarke/Getty Images)
Oliveaux had a history of seizures and in the weeks before her death she suffered from a 'series of seizures and head injuries,' Innocence Project states. The last injury reportedly stemmed from a fall that led to multiple skull fractures, with Oliveaux being required to stay in the hospital for a week. The project states that these injuries increased her risk of subsequent seizures, which could be triggered by warm baths. However, this information was not presented at Duncan's trial. (Picture: veritenews.org/The Murder That Never Happened)
What have Duncan's family said about the situation?
Statham added that her life, her family's life, and Duncan's life have been 'destroyed by the lie.' Referring to the prosecutors and forensic experts, AP report she told the court: 'The horror story that they put out and desecrated my baby’s memory makes me infuriated. I was not informed of anything that would have exonerated Mr. Duncan at all. Had I been then, things would have turned out a lot different for Mr. Duncan and all of our families.' Prosecutors are seeking to reinstate Duncan’s conviction. (Picture: MATTHEW HINTON/AFP via Getty Images)
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