MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ) – The attorney for Steven Avery is looking for a new trial and judge.
Kathleen Zellner posted a 599-page filing claiming that the state “spent an enormous amount of time and effort perpetrating a fraud upon Steven Avery’s jury.”
Avery is serving a life term after being convicted, along with his nephew, Brendan Dassey, for the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach.
The state’s theory that Halbach was killed on the Avery property, and burned in a burn put there – and that bones found in a nearby gravel pit were not evidence in this case are the main points of focus in the primary41-page motion.
“The State, by its actions in returning Manitowoc Gravel Pit bones to the Halbach family in 2011, has implicitly admitted that the bones were not only human but that they belonged to Ms. Halbach. This stunning action and admission undermines the State’s entire theory at trial that was used to convict Mr. Avery and undermines confidence in the integrity of his verdict,” Zellner writes.
Zellner argues that because of this the conviction should be overturned and a new trial granted.
Manitowoc County Judge Patrick Willis presided over Avery’s trial and since his retirement, Sheboygan County Judge Angela Sutkiewicz has handled motions at the trial court level.
Zellner wishes for her to be removed from the case.
“By virtue of having presided over the prior civil suit filed against Mr. Avery by the Halbach family for the death of Teresa Halbach, Judge Sutkiewicz should recuse herself from the pending postconviction case, and it should be reassigned to a different judge,” Zellner argues.
The motion, which was filed on Monday, has not been responded to by the state and no hearings have been scheduled.
Dassey has no current pending appeals after his most recent appeal. to the United States Supreme Court, was rejected.
