Trial and Error

The Outcry for Justice in the Dennis Dechaine Case

Dear Friends and Supporters

Jul 24, 2011

As most of you know, Dennis was found close to death in his cell and was hospitalized in April.  Although it was not clear to us for some time what had happened, it developed that he had tried to take his own life by taking an overdose of prescription drugs. He did this after the date for the Touch DNA testing had been postponed for the third or fourth time, and after seeing  men he knew in prison who were young 20 years ago now old and sitting in wheelchairs, ” helpless against attacks by  young hoodlums. He believed that the state would never allow him to leave this prison alive, and he wanted to escape this terrible future.

When Dennis was first returned to the prison he was treated very badly by prison security, but eventually he received helpful treatment from the mental health staff. He will now be kept in isolation in the SuperMax for some months as punishment for having taken drugs, but he is enjoying reading, studying French, exercising, and not having to respond 100 times a day to people asking how his case is coming. He has lost weight and the sparkle has returned. Our old Dennis is back. He would love to hear from you.

We in Trial & Error do not speak for Dennis. That is not our role. So we chose to respect his privacy and that of his family during this very difficult period.  When Dennis was ready to speak he wrote a moving letter to Trevor Maxwell of the Portland Press Herald, the reporter for the wonderful stories which have appeared in the Maine Sunday Telegram the past two Sundays. We hope that you have been following them.

Please find below Dennis’s letter and the link to the story from the Press Herald about his suicide attempt and also the outrageous news that Dennis is being charged with a criminal offense. Please understand that “trafficking” is a legal term and DOES NOT mean that Dennis was in any way dealing in drugs, which he was not.

I hope that after you read his letter that any questions you may have as to why he did what he did will be resolved. Why the District Attorney (and we believe the Attorney General) are now prosecuting Dennis to add even more years to his life sentence is beyond any understanding.

The most helpful thing that you can do for Dennis right now is to write letters to newspapers in support of a re-trial.

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