Donald Alexander

From Judgepedia

Donald G. Alexander has been a Justice on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court since September 2, 1998^[1], a position he was appointed to by then-governor Angus S. King. His current term expires in 2012.^[2][3]

Biography

Justice Alexander graduated from Bowdoin College and the University of Chicago Law School. He has authored and edited legal publications and has served as an adjunct faculty member of the University of Maine School of Law and the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop.^[4]

Legal career

Previous to his Supreme Court appointment in 1998, Alexander served on the state's superior court and as Deputy Attorney General. He also served as an assistant to Senator Edmund S. Muskie in D.C., and as Legislative Counsel for the National League of Cities. ^[3]

Instruction manual authorship

He is the author of The Maine Jury Instruction Manual (4th ed. 2005); and Maine Appellate Practice (2nd ed. 2004), and the editor of The Maine Rules of Civil Procedure with Advisory Committee Notes and Commentary (2005 ed.). He is the Court's liaison to the Advisory Committee on the Maine Rules of Probate Procedure, the State Court Library Committee, and the Maine State Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Committee.

Notable Cases

Moore v. Abbott

Can government officials "pass" on Freedom of Access laws by delegating chores to others?

Dennis Dechaine, an Aroostook County native of the St. John Valley, was convicted in 1989 for the murder of Sarah Cherry in the lower part of the state. Friends and family who thought Dennis was innocent organized a group and called it Trial and Error.^[5]. Though Dennis had a jury trial, the prosecutor from the attorney general's office kept evidence out of trial which would have helped Dennis... and the state's evidence was circumstantial. Dennis' guilt was never proven by that famous standard "beyond a shadow of a doubt."

In 2005, legislation changing Maine's post-conviction DNA statutes were passed, which took effect in September of 2006. Around that time, Maine Attorney General Steve Rowe, pressured by allegations of a flawed investigation and trial, ordered an investigation. He chose two attorneys (one with the last name Abbott) and a retired judge to perform the investigation; they were named the "Beaulieu Commission." When the investigation was completed in the autumn of 2006, the Commission's finding of "no wrongdoing" was reported to the public. James Moore - a retired Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent and the author of books about the murder case - made Freedom of Access requests to obtain the information the Commission had relied on to form its opinion. After his requests were denied, James Moore filed a lawsuit... and subsequently an appeal of the Cumberland County Superior Court decision^[6]. The Maine Civil Liberties Union filed an amicus curaie in support of petitioner, Moore. The Maine Supreme Court upheld the ruling^[7]. Justices Alexander, Gorman, and Silver made up the majority, which felt since the Commission members volunteered their services, they were not subject to Maine's Freedom of Access laws. From Justice Levy's dissent, in which Justice Mead joined:

"The investigatory panel organized by the Attorney General was clearly performing a traditional government function—the internal investigation of allegations of prosecutorial and law enforcement misconduct"... and thus concluded that "the records of the investigatory panel organized by the Attorney General are subject to the Freedom of Access Act, 1 M.R.S. §§ 401-412 (2007)."

Before his trial in 1989, Dennis asked to have his DNA tested and offered to pay the cost, but his request was denied. Supporters believe that a jury of reasonable persons could come to a different conclusion based on new evidence, or evidence previously withheld from the jury^[5]Dennis' attorney filed a motion for a new trial in August of 2008.^[8].

External links

• Biographies of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court justices
• Trial and Error website
• Moore v. Abbott (2008 ME 100)
• Dechaine case - Motion for New Trial

References

v • d • e Maine Supreme Court Current Chief: Saufley • Alexander • Clifford • Gorman • Levy • Mead • Silver Former Parris • Hornby • Fox • Carter • Lipez • Brody • Mellen