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Source: Bangor Daily News, MaineNov.迷你倉 08--PORTLAND, Maine -- Deputy Attorney General Bill Stokes spent Friday morning chipping away at the notion that new DNA analysis in the 25-year-old Sarah Cherry murder case doesn't bring Dennis Dechaine, who is serving a life sentence for the crime, any closer to exoneration.Dechaine's defense attorney, Steven Peterson, has contended that the DNA evidence, which was produced by new analysis during the past few years, points to an alternative suspect and in some cases excludes Dechaine as a suspect.Much of Stokes' questioning Friday morning of DNA expert Dr. Greg Hampikian focused on the quality of the DNA samples and the likelihood that the DNA came from Cherry's killer. The issue of how the DNA was transferred to Cherry's clothing and fingernails is crucial to Dechaine's bid for a new trial. Under a law enacted in Maine in 2006, defendants relying on DNA evidence in their appeals must prove that the DNA could only have come from the perpetrator of the crime.Hampikian said that as far as he can tell, detectives and forensic experts have handled the evidence correctly over the years but that doesn't mean necessarily that no contamination occurred."There's always a concern when you have a case where it's been 25 years since evidence collection," said Hampikian. "The concerns are that I can't be sure that the evidence was properly separated at all times."Much of the defense's case is focused on biological matter that was found under Cherry's thumbnail. The DNA there has been found to not include Dechaine's but does include the DNA of another male. DNA from two males was found on Cherry's shirt and a scarf that was used to strangle her. Neither Dechaine nor an alternative suspect can be excluded as the source of that DNA, though the match is far from 100 percent.Hampikian said the very best DNmini storage evidence available in the case statistically narrows the DNA donor to about 1 in 200, far short of the 1 in millions or billions that would constitute a match.None of the DNA is of high enough quality to provide a 100 percent match to Dechaine or any other suspect.Peterson is arguing that the DNA implicates an alternative suspect whose name has long been associated with the case. That person has been named in court but the Bangor Daily News is not publishing his name because he has never been charged in connection with the case. A private investigator hired by Dechaine's supporters went to Florida and secretly acquired the man's DNA from a coffee cup."If I was working with this case fresh and I started with the DNA, the possibility of more than one perpetrator is definitely there," said Hampikian.At one point Stokes' questioning of Hampikian drew a rebuke from Justice Carl O. Bradford, who is presiding over the hearing."We're getting a little argumentative here," said Bradford. "Let's confine ourselves to questions and answer."The hearing in Cumberland County Superior Court was expected to last for much of Friday. A decision by Bradford is expected to be rendered in writing in the coming days or weeks.Peterson said Thursday that even though the evidence is not conclusive, it could well lead to a different outcome for Dechaine, particularly given the fact that Dechaine's DNA was not found under Cherry's fingernails."This is the very kind of thing that a jury would consider to be reasonable doubt," said Peterson to reporters outside the courthouse. "We're talking about an alternative suspect that can't be excluded."Watch bangordailynews.com for updates.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Bangor Daily News (Bangor, Maine) Visit the Bangor Daily News (Bangor, Maine) at .bangordailynews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉