The Maine Attorney General’s Office disputes claims made by representatives of Dennis Dechaine, who is seeking to appeal his 1989 conviction.

According to the Portland Press Herald, Dechaine was convicted of the 1988 murder of 12-year-old Sarah Cherry, but his lawyers hope to overturn his conviction with a new trial. They claim advanced DNA testing found on key evidence used in his 1989 trial calls Dechaine’s conviction into question.

The AG’s office, however, says some of the claims in the defense filing are misleading or inaccurate. They say Dechaine’s defense’s claims that blood was found under Cherry’s fingernail are false, and that the state medical examiner did not report anything under the victim’s nails. Dechaine’s lawyers also argue that someone went through Dechaine’s truck after he had been picked up by police. The AG’s office, however, says Dechaine had his keys with him and hid them under the seat of the cruiser.

Key evidence in the murder underwent advanced testing and concluded this past fall that the items couldn’t link Dechaine to the crime scene. Dechaine’s lawyers say there was no conclusive evidence of Dechaine’s DNA on three of the six items tested that were used as critical evidence in the murder trial. The other three items did not have enough DNA on them to match or exclude Dechaine.