Ew. Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew EW AGAIN
Video Shows Mississippi’s "Bite Mark Expert" Michael West Using a Dental Mold to Create Bite Marks on a Corpse Short summary: Several months ago, I was able to obtain a pretty shocking video of one of Dr. Michael West’s infamous post-mortem "bite mark examinations." This particular exam was performed on a 23-month-old Louisiana girl named Haley Oliveaux. As with most cases, Dr. Steven Hayne performed the initial examination on Oliveaux, claimed to have seen bite marks no other doctors saw, then called in West to perform his quackery bite mark analysis. West claimed to have traced the bite marks to Jimmie Duncan, the boyfriend of Oliveaux’s mother, and the man police suspected of murdering the girl. Duncan was convicted of capital murder, and has spent the last 10 years on death row.
The smoking gun video damns West and Hayne in two ways. First, as it opens, West is performing his initial examination. The video clearly shows that when the body of Haley Oliveaux was handed over to West and Hayne, her face was free of any abrasions or bite marks. Her cheek is clean.
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The more obvious thing the video shows is Michael West repeatedly jamming, scraping, and pushing a mold of Jimmie Duncan's teeth into Haley Oliveaux's body. -- Radley Balko at The Agitator
Suppose for the sake of argument that retributive justice is ever moral. Suppose further that death is an acceptable retributive punishment. Further suppose that it is appropriate for the State to administer it, and that it could be done in a manner that isn't disturbingly racist and classist.
This level out outright malicious evidence tampering only came to light because someone was lucky enough to find video.
A follow-up post at The Agitator adds that the bite marks were the only physical evidence in the case tying Duncan to the death.
The smoking gun video damns West and Hayne in two ways. First, as it opens, West is performing his initial examination. The video clearly shows that when the body of Haley Oliveaux was handed over to West and Hayne, her face was free of any abrasions or bite marks. Her cheek is clean.
...
The more obvious thing the video shows is Michael West repeatedly jamming, scraping, and pushing a mold of Jimmie Duncan's teeth into Haley Oliveaux's body. -- Radley Balko at The Agitator
Suppose for the sake of argument that retributive justice is ever moral. Suppose further that death is an acceptable retributive punishment. Further suppose that it is appropriate for the State to administer it, and that it could be done in a manner that isn't disturbingly racist and classist.
This level out outright malicious evidence tampering only came to light because someone was lucky enough to find video.
A follow-up post at The Agitator adds that the bite marks were the only physical evidence in the case tying Duncan to the death.