Alan Hall, a 1.72m, asthmatic Pakeha, was convicted of murdering Arthur Easton, who died after being stabbed in his Papakura home as he and his two 1.8m sons grappled with the intruder.
The identity of the intruder was the central issue of the case. On the night of the murder the Easton boys described the intruder as dark-skinned and about their height.
The Innocence Project - based on an American concept under which academics and students investigate possible miscarriages of justice - is concerned that evidence that pointed towards Hall being innocent was withheld or altered.
Mr Gerrie is unhappy it took so long for police to reveal the existence of the fourth witness, Denise Richardson.
The project sought the documents as a result of Mrs Richardson contacting the Herald in August in response to an article about the case that featured a photograph of Hall. She told the newspaper that Hall was not the man she saw near a walkway leading to the Eastons' home.
She told the Herald she noticed the man because he was walking briskly and kept turning his head. In her statements to police at the time she described him as about "6 foot" (1.82m) "and more on the dark side than fair".
The sightings by Mrs Richardson and another witness, Ronald Turner, were on the route along which a police dog tracked the suspect.
Mr Turner described seeing a young Maori male running across Clevedon Rd, about 300m from where Mrs Richardson made her sighting and about 100m from where the police dog lost the suspect's scent.
Of the four witnesses, the jury heard only a statement from Mr Turner which became controversial when it was discovered (after Hall's unsuccessful appeal) that the word "Maori" had been omitted.
"We don't know why or how that word was omitted," said Mr Gerrie.
Turner has sworn an affidavit in which he says he did not intend to leave Maori out of his description and was "extremely surprised ... particularly after the police sergeant had tested me at length on this very point".
The murder inquiry did focus on a dark-skinned offender but changed tack when Hall volunteered that he had owned the murder weapon, a knife left at the scene.
"Alan is a simple guy and I think initially he was trying to assist the police."
Mr Gerrie believes Hall, who was 23, realised police were questioning him about his involvement and panicked.
"In my personal opinion and having looked at this case for many years, I think the police got the wrong man. The problem we have now is the jury was told [one] part of the story but was not told the other side which was the importance of these sightings of suspicious men all of whom were tall and dark-skinned."
Hall was released from prison in 1995 having served eight years and nine months. He has always maintained that he is innocent.
