In search of justice

NEW LOOK AT AN OLD CASE
JD’15
Hope
Lemieux
Dave Barnum
WHEN HOPE LEMIEUX SAW THE JOB
posting for a senior paralegal specialist
to work on a capital punishment case in
Vermont, her interest was piqued. A little Googling
led her to one conclusion: This could only be the
Donald Fell retrial, the latest in a 16-year saga following
the murder of a Rutland, Vt., woman.
For Lemieux, the case offers a chance to bring a
fresh perspective to an old case. A jury convicted
Fell of murder in 2005, but that conviction was overturned
in 2014 on the ruling of juror misconduct.
Since last October, Lemieux has been busy prepping
for trial and sifting through files that sat dormant
for years. That’s meant extracting files from
floppy disks and sending old photographic negatives
off to specialists to be developed and enlarged, and
tracking down witnesses who’ve retired or moved.
Prosecutors in the case are fighting for the death
penalty—a harder sell in today’s political climate
than it was just 10 years ago. The case will take an
estimated four months in trial, likely beginning in
late winter next year.
“I just look at the family, and sixteen years later,
they’re still showing up at every court hearing,” says
Lemieux. “Even when [the work] gets disheartening,
you can look at them [and remember] you’re fighting
for justice for the victims.”
31 FALL 2015