Steven Avery’s Lawyer Has Laid Down The Gauntlet With New Motion

Steven Avery’s lawyer, Kathleen Zellner, has just taken her campaign to free the convicted murderer to the next level by filing a motion that requests access to a long list of evidence.

She is demanding that extensive forensic tests be carried out in order to prove that Avery was framed for the murder of Teresa Halbach in 2005. As well as this she also filed a motion that basically asks the appeals court to put a hold on the case until testing is completed.

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In her ‘Motion for Post-Conviction Scientific Testing’ (found here) posted yesterday afternoon, Zellner said:

“Mr. Avery is requesting, and is willing to pay for, the most comprehensive, thorough, and advanced forensic testing ever requested by a criminal defendant in the State of Wisconsin. Mr. Avery has already completed a series of tests that will conclusively establish his innocence.

“By doing this additional and totally comprehensive testing, a guilty defendant would risk conclusively establishing his guilt. In contrast, Mr. Avery is requesting the comprehensive, thorough, and most advanced forensic 2 testing currently known for one simple reason: he is completely and totally innocent of the murder of Teresa Halbach (“Ms. Halbach”). Mr. Avery has already completed a series of tests that will conclusively establish his innocence in conjunction with the additional forensic tests he is seeking in this motion. All of this evidence will be presented in Mr. Avery’s post-conviction petition which will be filed after the new test results are obtained from the tests requested in the instant motion.”

Newsweek

The 45 page motion, which identities 86 different areas to be investigated, lists various areas that Zellner thinks are poitns for contention. Among them is that Halbach’s car was seized on 3 November 2005, which is two days before it was officially found.

Speaking to Newsweek, Zellner said:

“That was a huge discovery because the car doesn’t appear on the Avery property until November 5. It’s a problem when some of [the investigators] are planting evidence and others are honestly doing their job and documenting their malfeasance.”

Zellner is also hoping to retests some of the DNA evidence using better technology than was available at the time of the investigation. In the motion she says.

“Since 2007, more sensitive forensic DNA techniques have been developed that can recover sufficient DNA for profiling from…fingerprints. “If the unidentified fingerprints on the victim’s vehicle match either Officer [Andrew] Colborn or Officer [James] Lenk, it would be significant evidence of their involvement in moving the victim’s vehicle onto the Avery property.”

Change.org

She will enthused by the recent decision to overturn Brenden Dassey’s conviction. Dassey is due to be released from prison in the next couple of weeks.

Featured Image: CBC