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Christian Bromley discusses victory for innocent pro bono client on death row
Jul 14, 2026Christian Bromley, a BCLP partner and co-lead of the firm’s Environmental & Toxic Tort practice, recently spoke with ABA Journal about a precedent-making victory for pro bono client, Jimmie “Chris” Duncan, with the Louisiana Supreme Court upholding the 2025 trial court order vacating his wrongful capital conviction based on the evidence of factual innocence uncovered by Mr. Duncan’s pro bono team over the last 10 years.
In the article, Christian discusses the matter, its significance to BCLP, and how the team built the case for factual innocence.
“There’s no version of this that I think we could have hoped for other than the highest court in Louisiana telling Chris that he, in fact, is factually innocent,” Christian told ABA Journal. “What we tried to do was come in and say, ‘Here’s what actually happened that day,’” Christian says. “It’s the same thing Chris Duncan told the police in 1993, minutes after leaving the hospital. His story has always been exactly the same. So we used all of that to build a case for factual innocence.”
On June 29, 2026, the Louisiana Supreme Court issued a lengthy opinion affirming the 2025 ruling from Louisiana’s Fourth Judicial District Court vacating Mr. Duncan’s 1998 conviction and death sentence for an alleged 1993 murder that never occurred. Those courts together agreed that Mr. Duncan met his burden under a recently passed Louisiana statute by presenting clear and convincing evidence of his factual innocence in the accidental drowning death of Haley Oliveaux more than 30 years ago.
Christian, along with recently retired Atlanta Partner Scott Greene and Counsel Ann Ferebee, among countless other BCLP lawyers, have represented Mr. Duncan since 2016 after Christian attended a meeting held by the ABA’s Death Penalty Representation Project that introduced him to Mr. Duncan’s case. Ten years later, the BCLP team has collectively contributed well over 10,000 pro bono hours towards Mr. Duncan’s post-conviction defense and this victory.
