John,

Jimmie “Chris” Duncan is currently on death row in Louisiana for a crime that was never committed — the tragic and accidental death of his girlfriend’s 23-month-old daughter.

The Innocence Project is now withdrawing its clemency petition in Chris’s case because the State of Louisiana has shown that it is not taking the process of reviewing death row clemency petitions seriously, and we believe that new, compelling evidence of innocence must be considered.

Read more about our decision and the fight to save Jimmie “Chris” from being executed for something he didn’t do.

When Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards called on the state legislature to abolish executions in April, Chris was one of 56 people on death row to petition the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole for clemency. The Board, with guidance from Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry — an ardent supporter of the death penalty — summarily denied those petitions.

The Board later agreed to hold clemency hearings on at least some of these petitions, but in September, a group of Louisiana district attorneys and AG Landry sued the Board to stop the hearings from happening. As a result, people on Louisiana’s death row are now left with a sham process: Instead of full hearings on the merits of their claims, the Board has given only a few people an administrative review — an abbreviated proceeding in which the person on death row is not even present. 

We are gravely concerned that participating in this process will deny meaningful consideration of the facts in Chris’s case, including the compelling evidence of his innocence.

The truth is that Louisiana’s death penalty system is profoundly broken, with an alarming 83% reversal rate in capital cases since 1976. 

We believe that Jimmie “Chris” Duncan’s claims of innocence must be heard before Louisiana commits an irreversible injustice. Please take a moment right now to learn more about his case and then share his story with your friends and family online.

Thank you for your support,

— The Innocence Project Team