MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Steven Avery withdrew a letter to the court filed last week complaining about the lack of a decision on his most recent motion for a new trial.
Avery is serving a life sentence for freelance photographer Teresa Halbach’s 2005 murder. Avery’s nephew Brendan Dassey was also convicted. Their cases received worldwide attention with the 2015 release of the Netflix series “Making A Murderer.”
In Avery’s most recent post-conviction motion brief — filed in late January — attorney Kathleen Zellner places the blame for the murder on another witness at the trial. She has requested an evidentiary hearing so that the court can hear from an eye witness who says they saw this alternate suspect with Halbach’s vehicle, which Zellner claims was then used to plant evidence against Avery. Prosecutors have opposed the request. An addendum to the motion, filed two weeks ago, offers another witness for the claim. Prosecutors have not replied to the addendum.
A May 31 letter to the Manitowoc County Clerk of Courts was signed as being from Avery and his supporters, although there were no names or signatures on it. It contends the 90-day deadline for Sheboygan County Judge Angela Sutkiewicz to make a decision has been missed and she should be replaced. Prosecutors have not responded to the letter.
But another letter has been filed – this time actually signed by Avery – to “withdraw the submission”.
“In doing so I state the following: 1. I acknowledge the submission was improper and inappropriate. 2. I did not consult with my lawyers on this matter at any time before sending it. 3. I apologise unreservedly for any disrespect this may have shown to the Court,” Avery wrote.
No hearings are currently scheduled in the case. There is no time line for a decision to be issued by Sutkiewicz.
Dassey has no appeals pending — his latest appeal was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018.
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