Trial and Error

Oct 25, 2013

Dear Supporters,

It has been sixteen months since the last hearing in June, 2012. We have been notified that a new hearing date has been set for Thursday, Nov 7th, and if necessary, Nov 8th, at 9 a.m. The hearing will be held in Portland at Cumberland County Superior Court where the other hearings have been held. Because seating in the courtroom is very limited, we are not encouraging a large turnout of supporters — Dennis already knows that you are out there! And those who do attend must NOT demonstrate their support for Dennis in any outward way!

The result of the June, 2012 hearing was that Judge Bradford permitted more DNA testing to be performed on the scarf (which belonged to Dennis and was taken from his truck) and on Sarah’s shirt. Male DNA was obtained from both items, but was so degraded that no complete profiles could be obtained. Dennis asked that no possible DNA stone be left unturned in further testing on these items. Once again, Dr. Greg Hampikian will testify as our side’s expert on DNA issues.

Although the weeks right before a hearings are always stressful for Dennis, reminding him of so many disappointments in court over the past twenty-five years, and despite certain recent changes at Maine State Prison which are upsetting to Dennis and also to many other inmates, Dennis has been doing well and is eager to get the hearing behind him. He believes that he could not have any better representation than that provided by his lawyer, Steve Peterson, and Dr. Hampikian, for which he is so very grateful.

On another note, every September for the past ten years a group of dedicated members of Trial & Error have manned (and “womaned”) a booth at the Common Ground Fair at Unity. This year Genie Nakell and Sue Pastore of Portland spent a total of seven hours in Genie’s car — including three hot hours stuck in the fair traffic — in order to spend their four hours on duty at the booth! But everyone agrees that it is always worthwhile to encounter so many wonderful people who support Dennis.

Bernie Huebner wrote about his and Susan Morris’s experiences in the booth:

“As in all the previous years, perhaps the greatest value to staffing the T&E booth is to let the world know that, just as Dennis is still in prison, Trial and Error is still out here advocating for and supporting his quest. The value of this was demonstrated rather clearly by a delightful coupling of events over the weekend.

“On Saturday morning, two different women spoke to Susan and me about how they were friends of the current attorney general, Janet Mills. They wanted to know what they could do to help Dennis, and we encouraged– make that ENCOURAGED –them to visit their friend Janet and ask any of the obvious questions. Then on Sunday afternoon, the same attorney general walked in to the Social and Political Action tent, made her way part way along the other side of the aisle, caught sight of the T&E booth. . . and turned around and left the tent.

“Rest assured, neither we nor Dennis are forgotten. Yet another indicator of the value of maintaining the booth was how an individual visited us on Friday and went away with a copy of HS. He was back on Sunday to say he’d already read half of it . . . plus a few more emphatic expressions of outrage. Hearing this, I had to wonder how many of us have had the same experience. A Trial and Error volunteer handed me the first edition of HS maybe ten years ago when I was staffing a different booth. I went home, read it straight through over a couple of days . . . and I’m still here, in increasingly good company, it seems.”

Another fine moment began when a young woman from Livermore told Bill Bunting that she had bought a copy of Human Sacrifice for 25 cents at a lawn sale, had read it straight through in one night, and then had written a letter to Dennis, a letter which Bill was able to tell her had both reached and delighted Dennis. She was surprised and overjoyed, and came back the next morning with a greeting card and the wonderful idea to have fair-goers who stopped by the booth sign it. Many did, and Nancy Farrin took the card home on Sunday evening — covered with greetings and signatures — and mailed it to Dennis, who was sincerely moved by it.

The vast majority of the people who stopped at the booth were overwhelmingly supportive. As Bill was told by one, “Enough is enough; this is ridiculous.” In concrete terms, we received several hundred dollars in contributions, and around a score of new contacts. Our thanks go out to Bill, Bob MacLaughlin, Bernie, Susan Morris, Genie, Sue Pastore, Dianne Joseph, and Nancy and Paul Farrin. Also to Sandy and Tom Weston who were the first to volunteer for fair duty, as they have in past years, but were forced by circumstances beyond their control to withdraw. May this success carry over into Dennis’s near future.

Those of you who in the past have been so kind as to order books for Dennis should know that Commissioner Ponte has ruled that inmates will no longer be permitted to receive books ordered from outside the prison after November 4th. But he also said that he would consider input from the public before making his decision final. His e-mail address is .

Thank You All once again for your continued support! To you who have sent in donations, a Sincere Thank You! We are still in need of funds to cover expenses including expert witnesses. Donations can be sent to Trial and Error P.O. Box 153 Madawaska Maine 04756. Donations can also be made via PayPal on our website.

Please note that it is Dennis’ birthday on Oct 29th, this coming Tuesday. If you wish to send him a card, please mail it to Dennis Dechaine Maine State Prison 807 Cushing Road, Warren Me. 04864.

Please send this email to all on your contacts list. Those of you who use Facebook, please post on your wall.

Sincerely,
Carol Waltman, Pres.
Bill Bunting, VP
Directors:
Steve Sandau
Bernie Heubner
Genie Nakell
Nancy Farrin
Bob MacLaughlin
Don Dechaine