Trial and Error

Nov 9, 2013

TRIAL & ERROR, 11/9/13 — The hearing to decide if Dennis Dechaine will be granted a retrial ended Friday, November 8th, in Portland. The hearing began in June, 2012 and was adjourned after three days of testimony so that additional DNA testing could be performed. After multiple delays, it resumed yesterday to consider the results.

Judge Carl O. Bradford, who presided over the 1988 trial and ruled against Dennis’s appeal in 1992, will alone decide if there will be a retrial. Following the two days of testimony by expert witnesses for both the defense and the State, Judge Bradford called the hearing to a close. Rather than hear final arguments in the courtroom, he instead instructed lawyers for both sides to file written briefs summing up the cases. Defense attorney Steve Petersen has until January to file his brief, and Assistant Attorney General William Stokes has until February to submit his response.

Judge Bradford is expected to rule on the motion for retrial sometime in March. Dennis’s fate hinges on the judge’s opinion as to whether the 1988 jury would likely have rendered a different verdict had it heard DNA evidence, which he had not allowed it to hear. Thus far, the judge has refused to consider non-DNA evidence in his upcoming decision, such as the testimony of two nationally known forensic experts who have independently concluded that Dennis couldn’t have been present when the murder was committed.

Should the judge not grant the motion for retrial, the defense has the option to appeal to the Maine Supreme Court. The next step after that would be appealing to the federal court, which would review the entire handling of the murder of Sarah Cherry, including the actions of investigating officers, prosecutors and the judge himself.

Among Bradford’s trial decisions that have been questioned was his denial of the defendant’s request to have DNA testing done before the original trial. The request was denied despite the fact that the state had already used DNA testing in the prosecution of another Maine case. Independent investigators have also alleged impropriety by state detectives and the prosecution team. In addition, important evidence was destroyed by the State six weeks after Dennis filed his appeal in 1992.