First, the good news. A man sentenced to life in prison for a 1988 murder has been released after DNA tests unavailable at the time of his trial failed to link him to the crime. Convicted solely upon circumstantial evidence -- the shape of his face, his walk, and a similarity between his hair and 41 hairs found in a mask at the crime scene -- the man was released when prosecutors wisely dropped the charges.

Now the bad news. The man is Drew Whitely from Pennsylvania, where reason evidently still prevails. Meanwhile, here in Maine, Dennis Dechaine, sentenced to life in prison for a 1988 murder, has not been released even though DNA tests unavailable at the time of his trial (actually they were, but his request for such tests were denied by the state) have failed to link him to the crime. Apparently here in Maine the circumstantial evidence used to convict Dechaine trumps DNA science, and reason does not prevail.

Attorney General Steven Rowe's commission has pronounced allegations of violations of due process and, worse, unsubstantiated without themselves substantiating their conclusions.

The $1,000 reward offered by James Moore, author of the book Human Sacrifice, which documents Dechaine's innocence, to anyone who can prove a single falsehood therein remains uncollected.

And the media continue to look the other way.

It's too bad Dechaine wasn't convicted in Pennsylvania. Despite 18 years in prison, he'd finally be a free man.

Bernie Huebner

Waterville