Despite new DNA evidence, the man convicted of killing 7-year-old Ashley Estell in 1993 should not receive a new trial, a district judge has told an appeals court.

Attorneys for death row inmate Michael Blair hope the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will reject the judge's recommendation and grant him a new trial.

"Every piece of biological evidence that was used to link Michael Blair to this crime at trial has been discredited by DNA, which also shows that someone else committed this crime," said Philip Wischkaemper, an attorney for Mr. Blair.

The Collin County district attorney's office had little comment about the local judge's recommendation to the appeals court.

Prosecutors still maintain Mr. Blair abducted Ashley from a Plano park and killed her.

"It's a pending matter," said John Rolater, chief of the district attorney's appellate division. "It's not appropriate for us to comment. This is just a preliminary step."

No one knows when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will rule on the request for a new trial.

"They can take all the time they want," Mr. Wischkaemper said.

Ashley's death generated nationwide publicity and prompted new Texas laws that require longer prison terms for repeat sex offenders and better tracking once they are released.

Even if Mr. Blair wins a new trial and is found not guilty of murdering Ashley, he will never be released from prison. Mr. Blair, 35, is serving three consecutive life sentences for sex crimes involving children. His attorneys hope to get him off death row.

The defense team includes the Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal center in New York that uses DNA evidence to exonerate wrongly convicted people.

This month, it helped free James Curtis Giles, who was convicted of a 1982 rape in Dallas County that prosecutors now say was committed by another man.

In Mr. Blair's case, the Collin County judge acknowledged new DNA evidence gathered since his 1994 trial.

"This court believes ... serious questions of fact and law are presented," visiting state District Judge Webb Biard wrote April 9. However, the DNA evidence "does not unquestionably establish applicant's innocence," the judge wrote.

DNA testing completed in October showed that tissue found under Ashley's fingernails did not come from Mr. Blair. In 2002, DNA tests concluded that hair samples found on Ashley's body did not belong to Mr. Blair or the girl.

"To this day, the state has not explained how Michael Blair could have committed this crime when someone else's DNA was found under the victim's fingernails," said Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project.

Prosecutors say other evidence proves Mr. Blair abducted and killed Ashley. Two witnesses testified they saw Mr. Blair at the park the morning she disappeared, and two people said they saw Mr. Blair at the spot where Ashley's body was dumped.

In 2001, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals sent the case back to a Collin County judge to rule on new DNA evidence. State District Judge Nathan White Jr., who presided over the trial, never made a ruling before leaving office on Dec. 31.

His successor appointed Judge Biard to review the DNA evidence and make a recommendation to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Only the appeals court could grant a new trial.