In 2014, when Dennis Dechaine lost his bid for a new trial, I wrote a letter to the editor to lament that the presiding judge, Carl O. Bradford, did not recuse himself from Dechaine’s case. He was, after all, the judge who originally denied Dechaine the right to DNA testing. The state attorney general at the time was not interested in justice or facts. There was a rush to conviction in this tragic death of a young girl.
Those of us who have supported justice in this case since the beginning are not going away. We know the facts: previously concealed evidence, false testimony and spurious science. We understand these things, and they should make a difference.
All of us want to believe Maine is different. We want to believe that such a miscarriage of justice would not happen in our state. It has. Thank goodness our state does not have the death penalty.
I can only hope that the current AG’s Office is concerned with truth and justice.
Susan Pastore
Portland
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