DNA experts testify as Dennis Dechaine seeks new murder trial

Posted: November 8 Updated: Today at 12:09 AM A judge must decide if the Maine man convicted of murdering 12-year-old Sarah Cherry in 1988 gets a new trial.

By Eric Russell erussell@pressherald.com Staff Writer

The legal fate of Dennis Dechaine now rests, as it has for 25 years, in the hands of Superior Court Justice Carl Bradford.

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Dennis Dechaine, shown in court in Portland on Thursday, was convicted in 1989 of the murder of 12-year-old Sarah Cherry.

Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer

Bradford, 80, retired in 1998 but is still an active judge and is called upon to preside over certain cases, including that of Dechaine, whom Bradford sent to prison for life in 1989.

On Thursday and Friday in a Portland courtroom, Bradford listened to testimony from DNA experts. He now awaits written arguments from the defense and prosecution before he determines whether Dechaine is granted a new trial.

Deputy Attorney General William Stokes will argue that Dechaine does not deserve a new trial. The state believes that he alone is responsible for the 1988 killing of 12-year-old Sarah Cherry and no amount of DNA analysis is going to change that.

Defense attorney Steven Peterson, who has handled Dechaines appeal since 2004, is hoping that the new DNA analysis presented over the last two years, including more this week, is enough to establish the smallest amount of doubt.

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DNA experts testify as Dennis Dechaine seeks new murder trial