A man on death row for killing his girlfriend’s 23-month-old daughter is granted bail after his murder conviction is thrown out. However, he won’t be walking out as a free man anytime soon. Back in April, District Court Judge Alvin Sharp threw out Jimmy Duncan’s first-degree murder conviction, saying that bite mark analysis was not scientifically defensible and that a jailhouse informant had recanted his testimony. Sharp set Duncan’s bail at $150,000 – an action that Attorney General Liz Murrill says was completely outside his lawful authority.
“The case is on appeal at the Louisiana Supreme Court, and the Louisiana Supreme Court has granted a writ to review the underlying ruling,” Murrill said.
Murrill says as such, the decision to grant Duncan bail was not Sharp’s decision to make.
“The judge no longer has jurisdiction over this case, and shouldn’t be issuing any orders at all,” Murrill said.
Murrill says this case is an example of the decades-old post-conviction relief that she has been fighting to clamp down on, so that the families of the victims can get the justice they deserve a lot sooner.
“It just shows you the length of time that can go when lawyers allow these cases, and judges too, to just linger on forever and ever,” Murrill noted.
As of late this morning, Duncan is still at Angola, and he’s waiting to be picked up by the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office to be taken to the Ouachita Parish Correctional Center.
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