BRUNSWICK (AP) – A freedom of information lawsuit seeking documents in the Sarah Cherry murder case has been settled with the state attorney general allowing the perusal of a microfilm copy of hundreds of documents.

Brunswick author James Moore wrote a book in 2002 that maintained Dennis Dechaine was innocent of torturing and killing the 12-year-old girl.

Ever since, Moore and the Dechaine advocacy group Trial and Error have been seeking additional investigative and legal documents in hopes of proving that Dechaine was innocent and securing his release from prison.

Supporters have petitioned for a new trial, and a hearing is scheduled for Sept. 26 at Knox County Courthouse in Rockland.

A state-appointed panel made up of a retired federal magistrate and two attorneys is also reviewing allegations of misconduct in the investigation and prosecution of Dechaine, who was charged in 1988 and is serving a life sentence.

Trial & Error claimed that the microfilm contains information that was previously not available to the public. But Assistant Attorney General Christopher Taub doubts the claim.

Everything on the microfilm is also contained in boxes of documents that are available to anyone who wants to visit the attorney general’s office in Augusta, Taub said. Those files were made public by a 2003 act of the Maine Legislature.

Moore revoked his lawsuit last month and was permitted to study the microfilm under the supervision of Maine State Police Lt. Timothy Doyle.

Doyle also wrote and signed an affidavit that states that to his knowledge, every piece of evidence and every document that exists has been found.

Asked about Taub’s claim, Moore said he’s not positive that the microfilm included documents that were not previously available. The entire case file, except for photographs of Cherry, was made public by Legislative action in 2003.

“The value (of seeing the microfilm) was assuring myself that they made everything available,” Moore said. “If these people hadn’t hidden so much, it would have saved everybody a lot of trouble.”