In an appeal of a federal judge's rejection of Williams' challenge to his incarceration, his lawyers are asking for the right to subpoena police files containing information about the molester.

The court papers made public Friday don't name the man, but they say he is a convicted multiple child molester currently serving time in a Georgia prison. They also allege that investigators knew the man was a viable suspect in the child murders but never told defense attorneys.

Evidence about the man resurfaced within the last year after a former police chief in DeKalb County, near Atlanta, reopened the investigation into five killings, the court papers say.

``A profound miscarriage of justice has occurred in this matter, which not only has kept (Williams) behind bars for a majority of his adult life, but also which kept a blind eye to bringing the real killers of these many victims to justice,'' the lawyers wrote in the motion.

A spokeswoman for the state Attorney General's Office did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Between 1979 and 1981, 29 black boys and young men were killed in the Atlanta area, sparking fear throughout the region.

Williams was convicted in 1982 of murdering Jimmy Ray Payne, 21, and Nathaniel Cater, 27, and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. Evidence of a pattern of conduct in 12 of the murders was used in his trial. Afterward, officials declared Williams responsible for 22 other deaths, and those cases were closed.

Williams, who is black, has contended that he was framed. He has maintained that Atlanta officials covered up evidence of Ku Klux Klan involvement in the killings to avoid a race war in the city, a claim investigators have denied.

In a telephone interview from prison last month with The Associated Press, Williams said he is confident about his prospects after more than 20 years in prison.

``I'll say this 100 times. It should be obvious right now of my innocence,'' he said.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)