Attorney Statement: Louisiana Supreme Court Affirms Lower Court’s Ruling Vacating Conviction of Jimmie “Chris” Duncan

(New Orleans, LA — June 29, 2026) Today, Jimmie ‘Chris’ Duncan finally received justice from the courts after spending 27 years wrongfully imprisoned on death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. An innocent man, Mr. Duncan endured unimaginable trauma from a deeply flawed conviction built largely on unreliable forensic evidence and expert testimony that has now been thoroughly discredited and undermined. We applaud the Louisiana Supreme Court for affirming the lower court’s decision to vacate his conviction based on clear and convincing evidence of his factual innocence in the death of Haley Oliveaux. As Chief Justice Weimer noted in his concurrence, this result in Mr. Duncan’s case is a powerful demonstration of “[t]he laws of post-conviction relief hav[ing] served the purpose of preventing the inappropriate application of the ultimate punishment.”

While today’s decision is a great victory and an important step towards securing final and complete justice for Mr. Duncan, the fight for his full exoneration is not over. Ouachita Parish District Attorney Robert S. Tew has vowed for months that he will again bring charges against Mr. Duncan and retry him, despite his being found factually innocent in May 2025 by Judge Alvin Sharp, a ruling which was upheld by the Louisiana Supreme Court today.

If Mr. Tew chooses to pursue a new trial, our team will continue to stand alongside Mr. Duncan and will not stop pressing forward until he is fully and completely exonerated.

Although nothing can restore the decades stolen from Mr. Duncan, this ruling provides some brief solace for Mr. Duncan, his family and friends.

— The Duncan Legal team

Mr. Duncan is represented by Naila Campbell of Mwalimu Center for Justice; C. Scott Greene (Ret.), Christian Bromley, and Ann Ferebee, of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP; and M. Chris Fabricant and Peter Neufeld of the Innocence Project.