Sarah Allen seeks new trial

AUBURN - Sarah Allen has asked the state to overturn her manslaughter conviction.

In a motion filed in Androscoggin County Superior Court, Allen's attorney, Verne Paradie, argues that a new trial is warranted because crucial evidence proving that Allen did not kill her son was discovered too late to be submitted at her trial.

The evidence, he said, was discovered by Dr. Suzanne de la Monte, a Rhode Island neuropathologist hired by the defense to study samples of Nathaniel Allen's eyes and brain and to testify at Sarah Allen's trial earlier this month.

According to Paradie, de la Monte continued to research the case after the trial started because she gained access to cutting-edge technology. The technology allowed her to identify more evidence that the boy had an underlying metabolic disorder and suffered a seizure.

Citing state law governing the timeline for submitting evidence, Justice Ellen Gorman didn't allow Paradie to submit de la Monte's newest findings.

"It is difficult to imagine any unfairness whatsoever to the state in allowing Ms. Allen to introduce the significantly exculpatory evidence, especially since the state had the obligation to ensure that Ms. Allen received a fair trial," Paradie wrote in his motion.

Paradie argued that de la Monte discovered the evidence through an evolving scientific process.

"The evidence Ms. Allen seeks to introduce in this case clearly meets the required standard for granting a new trial," he said.

Gorman has not yet ruled on the motion.

Paradie plans to use the same argument in his appeal to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, which he plans to file after Allen is sentenced today.