News From Steven Avery's Lawyer: 'We Won!'

Kathleen Zellner says subject of Netflix's 'Making a Murderer' has won his motion to appeal
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 26, 2019 7:11 AM CST
News From Steven Avery's Lawyer: 'We Won!'
In this March 13, 2007, file photo, Steven Avery listens to testimony in the courtroom at the Calumet County Courthouse in Chilton, Wis.   (AP Photo/Morry Gash, Pool, File)

With one tweet, a big victory for one of the subjects of Netflix's Making a Murderer has been revealed. "We Won!!!!!! Back to the circuit court," Steven Avery's lawyer, Kathleen Zellner, posted Monday afternoon, announcing the news that her most high-profile client had won his motion to appeal from the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Newsweek reports. Avery, 56, who's serving a life sentence for the 2005 murder of photographer Teresa Halbach, had sought the appeal based on the argument that the state had mishandled evidence, specifically bone fragments that Zellner had sought to have retested for DNA evidence, WLUK reports. When Zellner filed the paperwork to have those bones tested, it was found they'd been given to the Halbach family, which she says was a violation of Avery's due process, as the defense was never informed.

The bones were found in a gravel pit that wasn't on the Avery property—meaning if they're found to be Halbach's, it undermines the state's insistence that Halbach was killed and burned on Avery's property (Zellner contends someone planted bones on Avery's property to frame him). She explains to Newsweek that this appeal win means that a Wisconsin circuit court can now either grant Avery a new trial—at which Zellner could then bring forward other new evidence she's gathered—or send his case back to the appellate court, which could grant a new trial or overturn the conviction entirely. "The DREAM LIVES ON for Steven Avery to be FREE AGAIN," she tweeted. "The WRECKING CREW IS ON IT." Avery's nephew, Brendan Dassey, 29, is also serving a life sentence for Halbach's murder. (More Making a Murderer stories.)

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