Steven Avery’s Former Lawyers Respond To His Scathing Open Letter


As his new attorney Kathleen Zellner gears up to present evidence that could possibly free him from prison, Steven Avery penned a public letter against the attorneys who fought for him during his 2007 murder trial, Dean Strang and Jerry Buting. The attorneys aren’t upset about the accusations, but they want to set the record straight.

Bustle reports that only a few days after Netflix announced that a second series of Making a Murderer would be filmed, Avery wrote a handwritten letter to entertainment publication In Touch Weekly, declaring that his two former defense lawyers didn’t do enough investigation when they represented him. He even went as far as blaming the attorneys for his current residence: behind bars in a Wisconsin prison.

“Dean and Jerry didn’t do no investigation on this case. If they did I would not be in prison….Dean and Jerome are Bad Attorneys. They don’t now what Justice is and they don’t now what is a investigation is because if they did they would have done it for a innocent man like me!!!”

Avery is apparently upset that Buting and Strang reportedly failed to call on forensic experts while investigating his murder case, experts who could have helped explain how the key evidence used against him during his trial was allegedly fake.

Zellner, who provides updates on social media regarding current forensic testing she’s carrying out, concedes that she’ll prove the evidence that put Avery in prison was botched. For instance, scientists are analyzing victim Teresa Halbach’s car key to determine if Avery’s blood was planted on the key by Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, detectives.

Buting and Strang also argued that Halbach’s key was planted in Avery’s bedroom, but they, at least on the surface, lacked the assistance of forensic experts to help back up their claims. Regardless, their efforts gained the attorneys worldwide attention and admiration, which sparked their decision to tour worldwide, where they continue to speak about the case.

Strang wrote to Bustle, indicating that both he and Buting sympathize with Avery and understand his frustration, even if it means they’re getting thrown under the bus.

“We think that we understand, and we certainly sympathize with, his frustration. After all, we believe that a wrongfully convicted man is in prison, where he has been for more than half of his life.”

Yet, Strang also wrote that Avery had no idea of the steps he and Buting took while investigating his case since Avery was in jail.

“He doesn’t know immediately all of the investigative steps we took on his behalf and all of the details of our decision-making on issues committed to his lawyers’ judgment, although we shared everything necessary with him and more…. if we were in his shoes, the difficulty of staying immediately involved with all of a lawyer’s efforts would frustrate us, too.”

Despite Avery’s harsh accusations, the attorneys still believe in his innocence and plan to continue to raise awareness about the questionable circumstances surrounding Avery’s case. Strang also wrote that there are no hard feelings against Avery’s new attorney, and they’ll provide any information needed from them to help get Avery out of prison.

“We will continue to raise awareness of his case and Brendan Dassey’s, and continue to address the systemic problems in our criminal justice system that lead to other wrongful or unreliable convictions…..We also will continue to offer whatever information Mr. Avery’s new lawyers may want or need from us.”

Steven Avery and nephew Brendan Dassey remain behind bars, serving a life prison for 2005 murder of freelance photographer Teresa Halbach. Both are unwavering in their claim that they’re innocent.

[Image via Netflix]

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