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Steven Avery's lawyer says new types of testing will prove his innocence
Avery's murder conviction is being appealed
A lawyer for Steven Avery, the subject of the controversial 10-part docuseries “Making a Murderer, ” filed a motion Friday in a Wisconsin court, asking to get key evidence in the case so it can be tested with new methods.
The motion says Avery expects new, advanced tests will prove he didn’t kill Teresa Halbach in 2005. The case became the basis for the documentary, which prompted calls for authorities to set Avery free when it was featured on Netflix in December.
Avery, 54, has said through his trial and since that he was framed. Prosecutors maintained he and his nephew Brendan Dassey were involved in Halbach’s killing and the burning of her body.
“If you did plant the evidence, science is going to catch up with you, and that’s what we’re going to see in this,” attorney Kathleen Zellner told reporters, including CNN affiliate WISN.
The motion contends blood evidence was planted in Halbach’s vehicle, a Toyota RAV4, that was discovered at the salvage yard owned by Avery’s family on November 5, 2005. Avery says a Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department report shows the car was seized by police two days earlier and was driven to the property as part of a coverup by two members of the department.
Avery’s legal team wants testing done on:
• Bodily fluids on Halbach’s car key and hood latch
• Avery’s blood that was found in her vehicle
• DNA testing on items not tested before, such as a blinker light, a battery cable, underwear and other items
• Previously tested items such as a license plate and swabs taken from the RAV4
• The key and the hood latch to determine if chemicals may have been used to wipe away someone else’s DNA
Zellner says in the motion that considerable progress has been made in DNA testing and that Avery will pay for the testing to be done at two labs in Illinois and one in Massachusetts.
Zellner asked in a separate motion that Avery’s appeal be held up until the testing is done.
Dassey’s convictions, including one for first-degree murder, were recently overturned by a federal judge. Dassey, 26, is in a Wisconsin prison while prosecutors decide whether to try him again.
Netflix said last month it has started production on new episodes of its docuseries that will act as a follow-up to Season 1.
