Stop the execution of an innocent man: Jimmie “Chris” Duncan
Jimmie “Chris” Duncan, along with his family, on Louisiana’s death row. (Image courtesy of the Duncan family).
He was sentenced to death in Louisiana for a crime that never occurred.
In 1993, Jimmie “Chris” Duncan was bathing his girlfriend’s daughter when he stepped away briefly and returned to find the 23-month-old unconscious. He tried to perform CPR, took her to a neighbor’s house for help, and called the paramedics. But they were unable to resuscitate her.
This was deemed to be a tragic accident until now-disgraced pathologist Steven Hayne and dentist Michael West — responsible for numerous wrongful convictions — opined based on fraudulent evidence and discredited “science” that the toddler had been killed. In fact, there is a video showing one of these “experts”—Mr. West —pressing a mold of Mr. Duncan’s teeth into the child’s skin, creating bite marks where there were none. Neither the jury nor the State’s testifying expert ever saw this evidence and, as a result, Mr. Duncan was convicted and sent to death row, where he has remained for a quarter of a century.
Despite this forensic fraud and compelling evidence of Mr. Duncan’s innocence, Louisiana’s justice system is not affording Mr. Duncan his day in court.
Louisiana’s death penalty system is profoundly broken, with an alarming 83% reversal rate in capital cases since 1976. Additionally, since 1999, nine people have been exonerated from death row and 95% of Louisiana death sentences have been reversed.
Add your name to Mr. Duncan’s petition before Louisiana makes an irreversible mistake.
- The Innocence Project Withdraws Jimmie Duncan’s Clemency Petition in Louisiana
- 9 Reasons Why the Historic Mass Clemency Effort in Louisiana May Save Innocent People From Execution
This petition is in collaboration with Mwalimu Center for Justice and Bryan Cave LLP.