Trial and Error
The Outcry for Justice in the Dennis Dechaine Case
F. Lee Bailey agrees to aid Dechaine bid for new trial
Apr 9, 2009
WARREN – Famed defense lawyer F. Lee Bailey met with convicted child killer Dennis Dechaine on Wednesday and agreed to help with his petition for a new trial.
Bailey met Wednesday with Dechaine at the Maine State Prison, where he’s serving a life sentence for the 1988 kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Sarah Cherry in Bowdoinham.
”He’s basically going to be available as a consultant,” Steve Peterson, Dechaine’s lawyer, said of Bailey.
He said he didn’t envision Bailey playing a role in the courtroom, but that’s subject to change.
”We didn’t really define a role or anything like that,” Peterson said.
Dechaine maintains his innocence. Last August he petitioned for a new trial based on DNA evidence that wasn’t available at his trial.
His petition is made possible by a 2006 change in state law that let prisoners seek new trials based on technological advances in DNA testing.
— The Associated Press
Read the Book
Human Sacrifice: On the Altar of Injustice
High-quality soft-cover edition, 418 pages,
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I would encourage everyone to pick up a copy of Liberty’s Prison: The Inmate’s Son Who Radically Reformed an American Prison. The book features the life and career of Maine’s Commissioner of Corrections Randall “Randy” Liberty and includes interviews with several men who are currently incarcerated at the Maine State Prison. Although the author uses pseudonyms, I’m certain that the man named “John” is Dennis. This book gives us a glimpse into “John’s” life behind bars, an opportunity to learn about all of the good he is doing for the benefit of his fellow inmates. No one who knows Dennis will be the least bit surprised!