A Maine man serving a life sentence for the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of a 12-year-old girl in 1989 will not be getting a new trial. A Superior Court judge has rejected Dennis Dechaine's latest appeal, saying new DNA evidence is "weak, vague and without practical meaning."
Dechaine argued for a new trial based on new and enhanced testing of DNA on several items recovered from the woods in Bowdoin where Sarah Cherry was killed. The tests show that Dechaine is excluded as a contributor of DNA on four of the items but that he "could be included on two others."
In his 23-page ruling, Superior Court Justice Bruce Mallonee says the test results are limited by physical degradation over the past 36 years, which can cause DNA to become undetectable or disappear.
In addition, Mallonee points out that the DNA samples were extremely small and they were subject to potential contamination because they were carried out of the woods by people who were not wearing, masks, gloves or other protective gear.
Taken with what he called the "large body of" circumstantial evidence linking Dechaine to the crime and with multiple incriminating statements made by Dechaine, the judge said he was convinced that a new trial would still produce the same result.
A similar request for a new trial was rejected by the Maine Supreme Court in 2015.
"This case is exhausted," Justice Mallonee wrote. "Perhaps now the poor dead child might rest."
Dechaine's attorney could not be immediately reached for comment.
