However, the judge discounted the evidence, accepting instead testimony by a soil chemist hired by Beatrice that the sludge was a synthetic, non-toxic resin. Ruling that there was insufficient evidence to reopen the case, the judge effectively relegated DeCheke's analysis to a mere footnote in the annals of the lawsuit. That failure of scientific evidence to outweigh legal strictures at first disillusioned DeCheke. But the intervening years have given DeCheke a new perspective, especially for someone who grew up in communist Hungary. Since retiring from the Uni-versity in 1995, he has immersed himself in the Woburn case.
History moves on, time can clarify.
The study in his Easthampton home illustrates DeCheke's continuing fascination with the court case. A long table is covered from end to end with books, papers and charts related to the Woburn lawsuit. During the past year, DeCheke plunged even deeper into the issue as Harvard Law School professor Charles Nesson, who served as co-counsel for the Woburn families, convened a symposium on the case. Bringing many of the major players from the case together, Nesson used the symposium as a teaching tool for his first-year students. The experience opened DeCheke's eyes to the world of the courtroom and the intricate and often arcane rules of evidence.