Trial & Error

More DNA testing approved in Sarah Cherry murder case as Dechaine seeks new trial

Trial & Error — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 23:20:24 +0000

By Jenna Beaulieu Staff Writer Fiddlehead Focus October 30th 2012 08:51pm AUGUSTA, Maine — More DNA testing in convicted murderer Dennis Dechaine’s bid for a new trial was approved Thursday by the State Attorney General’s Office and a superior court justice who has presided over the case for 23 years. Steven Peterson, Dechaine’s defense attorney, [...]

Dechaine supporters pin hopes on DNA test results

Trial & Error — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 06:05:20 +0000

By Jenna Beaulieu Staff Writer Fiddlehead Focus October 30th 2012 08:51pm ST. JOHN VALLEY – Recent DNA testing of evidence from a 1988 murder may have opened up a door for a retrial of Dennis Dechaine, the man courts convicted of murdering 12-year-old Sarah Cherry in 1988. However, there are two very different interpretations of [...]

New DNA Testing Agreed to in Dechaine Murder Case

Trial & Error — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 18:40:57 +0000

By Catherine Pegram Staff Writer WABI TV October 19th 2012 08:51pm A lawyer for convicted killer Dennis Dechaine says officials in the case have agreed to another round of DNA testing. That testing could specifically identify another suspect and lead to a new trial. Dechaine is serving a life sentence for killing 12-year-old Sarah Cherry [...]

Is new DNA information enough for ‘reasonable doubt’ in Dechaine case?

Trial & Error — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 12:24:48 +0000

New information casts doubts on Dennis Dechaine’s role in the death of Sarah Cherry, and confirms the alternative suspect theory, an analyst hired to interpret DNA data from a 24-year-old murder case says. Dr. Greg Hampikian, a DNA analyst from Idaho hired by Dechaine’s attorney, said Friday that his method of interpreting the results excludes [...]

New DNA Evidence Raises More Questions in Dechaine Murder Case

Trial & Error — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 11:14:19 +0000

New DNA samples recently tested in one of Maine's most notorious murder cases have come back from a lab in Texas with some potentially helpful results for convicted killer Dennis Dechaine. As Susan Sharon reports, the results are mixed, but appear to exclude Dechaine from a key piece of evidence.

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Former AG Jon Lund’s Letter to the Editor

Trial & Error — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 07:30:43 +0000

Below are two letters to the editor written by Jon Lund, Maine’s first full-tine Attorney General and former Chair of the Maine Criminal Law Review Commission. His 2008 letter (at bottom) was ignored by the media. His latest, written since the discovery of additional DNA evidence, appeared in the Kennebec Journal on October 2, 2012. [...]

Male DNA found on girl’s clothing in Dechaine case

Trial & Error — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 12:39:39 +0000

PORTLAND — Further testing of evidence from the 1988 murder of 12-year-old Sarah Cherry has revealed male DNA on the girl’s T-shirt, her bra and the scarf that was used to strangle her. Dennis Dechaine, convicted of murdering 12-year-old Sarah Cherry in 1988, is bidding for a new trial based on a change in state [...]

Trial & Error Newsletter

Trial & Error — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 03:26:51 +0000

September This past Monday evening Susan Sharon of Maine Public Broadcasting, after speaking with Dennis’s attorney, Steve Peterson, broke the story about the latest DNA findings. On Tuesday reporter Ann Kim’s story appeared in the Portland Press Herald, the Kennebec Journal and the Morning Sentinel The link of her story also appears at the bottom [...]

Maine Social Justice Video

Trial & Error — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 16:35:52 +0000

2012 Common Ground Fair Handout

Trial & Error — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 12:31:40 +0000

DNA and the Dennis Dechaine Case – An Update In 2011 Judge Carl Bradford ruled that only DNA evidence could be entered in support of Dennis Dechaine’s 2008 motion for a new trial, a trial which Dechaine hoped would — after 24 years proclaiming his innocence — overthrow his 1989 conviction for the murder of [...]