Steven Avery Update: Attorney To Prove Age Of Blood Doesn’t Match Crime Date
Attorney Kathleen Zellner is still working diligently to get Making a Murderer‘s Steven Avery out of prison, and has a lot of evidence to prove his innocence, according to the people behind the Steven Avery Project.
Business Insider reports that Zellner isn’t looking for a new trial, which explains why she hasn’t filed a hearing on Avery’s behalf yet. Instead, per Curtis Busse of the Steven Avery Project, the wrongful conviction lawyer is aiming to get Avery exonerated without him having to go back to court. In an interview with WIBX 950AM radio station, Busse said that Zellner is collecting so much information on the case that she’s confident she can have Avery released from prison within months.
#MakingAMurderer convict Steven Avery's lawyer is confident he'll be exonerated in 'months' https://t.co/20j8xR8Ftt pic.twitter.com/JrD01TJ5Dh
— Insider Business (@BusinessInsider) March 18, 2016
“We’re not even looking for a new trial. We’re actually looking for an exoneration. Zellner’s very confident, and Steven is also very confident that it’s not gonna take that much time. And we’re talking months here.”
One crucial piece of evidence is the age of the blood found on Teresa Halbach’s vehicle. Avery’s blood was found on the inside door panel and close to the steering wheel on Halbach’s Toyota RAV4, but it’s been said over and over by numerous supporters, and even Avery himself, that the blood must have been planted. Although Avery is serving a life sentence for the 2005 murder of 25-year-old Halbach, he claims he never harmed her and never touched her RAV4.
Busse said that along with proving the age of the blood didn’t match the timeline of the crime, Zellner is also working on DNA evidence and phone records.
“Phone records, DNA, there’s alibis there that weren’t proven the first time that Zellner is taking to the next level and gone the extra mile to prove. They’re going to show that the blood [in victim Teresa Halbach’s car] and the age of the blood, it’s not going to match up between the two.”
Will 'Making a Murderer's Steven Avery be exonerated within 'months'? https://t.co/cXQHfVpZYE #MakingAMurderer
— Kevin Jacobsen (@Kevin_Jacobsen) March 19, 2016
Zellner, who’s been using Twitter as an outlet to keep supporters updated on the Avery case, was recently called out by a law professor who said her tweets have no merit in the court of law. According to Michael M. O’Hear, a professor at the Marquette University Law School, Zellner’s tweets aren’t getting Avery any closer to freedom.
“It is hard to see how (the tweets) translate into any direct benefit for Avery. I doubt a judge or hypothetical future jury would be influenced much by the tweets, which are presumably going out to — and being shared by — a group of people who are already inclined to think that Avery is innocent.”
Zellner simply shrugged off the professor’s assessment with another tweet, questioning why he would comment on her tweets if he feels they have no impact. However, her tweets are certainly having an impact on numerous people who believe in Avery’s innocence and are waiting anxiously for his release.
Some of Zellner’s tweets include accusing people of using fake names to access Avery’s property, indicating cellphone records show Avery never left his property while Halbach did, and accusing authorities of planting evidence on the property to set Avery up.
Avery, currently behind bars at the Waupun Correctional Institution in Waupun, Wisconsin, has always maintained his innocence, claiming he only saw Halbach for a few minutes the day she came over to take pictures of his sister’s van. Halbach, a freelance photographer, visited the Avery property on October 31, 2005, to take pictures of the vehicle to be listed in Auto Trader magazine.
During Avery’s trial, Richard Mahler, one of the jurors, was excused from duty after deliberations had started, due to a family emergency. He stated that before he left, seven of the jurors were convinced that Avery was innocent. Mahler said he was extremely surprised to learn that all jurors agreed on his guilt after he left.
Steven Avery filed two appeals of his own, one in 2011 and another in 2016, both of which were denied.
[Photo via Netflix]
