Steven Avery is determined to prove his innocence. The Wisconsin man, who is the subject of the Netflix sensation Making a Murderer, has filed a new appeal asking for his murder conviction to be thrown out. The report comes just two days after lawyers Kathleen Zellner and Tricia Bushnell announced their intention to represent Avery, who is currently serving life in prison for the murder of young photographer Teresa Halbach in 2005.
TMZ broke the news on Tuesday, revealing that Avery’s appeal cites a number of grievances including an improper warrant, incompetent legal representation and a tainted jury. Most shocking about these claims is that not only did Avery allegedly file them himself (despite his newly appointed lawyers), but he insists that his legal counsel did not do their jobs properly. Those who watched the show know that his lawyers, Dean Strang and Jerry Buting, were highly regarded by viewers as heroes. That’s certainly an interesting turn of events.
In the new appeal, Avery claims that the first search warrant was illegal because it lists multiple properties, but “state law and statute clearly has stated limitations on a search warrant, such as 1 property, NOT multiple properties … this warrant is clearly a warrantless search or could clearly be stated that evidence seized or used at trial is clearly ‘fruit of the poisonous tree,’ illegally obtained evidence. The affidavit was based on clearly falsified, misleading information.”
Though it’s unclear whether Strang and Buting are specifically mentioned, Avery stated that “if not for the ineffective assistance of all six trial and appellate counsels, Avery would have been a FREE MAN.” He also goes on to state that one juror “made repeated remarks that Avery was fucking guilty … This tainted the other jurors through direct or indirect influence.” He also says that the juror told his colleagues, “If you can’t handle it why don’t you tell them and just leave.”
No word on what Strang, Buting or Avery’s new lawyers think about these assertions. We’ll keep you updated as we find out more.
