MILWAUKEE (WTAQ) - Steven Avery now says his civil rights were violated before he was arrested in the brutal 2005 slaying of Teresa Halbach in Manitowoc County. Avery spent 18 years in prison for raping a woman -- he was freed in 2003 when DNA evidence showed that somebody else did it -- and he was arrested two-and-a-half years later after DNA evidence linked him to Halbach's death. Avery now says investigators used a defective warrant when he searched his home after the murder. He wants $150,000 in punitive damages. Avery names Calumet County, former district attorney Ken Kratz, and three investigators as defendants. County corporation counsel Dawn Klockow said she was not served with the complaint today -- and she doesn't comment on pending lawsuits. Avery filed his complaint from prison without a lawyer's help. Halbach was beaten, raped, and burned on Halloween of 2005 at the Avery family's auto salvage yard near Mishicot. His nephew, Brendan Dassey, is also serving a life term for the killing.