As Steven Avery fights for his freedom, the state of Wisconsin is fighting to keep him behind bars, but a judge isn’t letting the state sit on the case for too long.
The Daily Record reports that prosecution recently attempted to delay Avery’s appeal by filing a motion to give them more time to prepare their arguments. Yet, Wisconsin courts gave the prosecution until March 2 to submit their paperwork as to why Avery should remain in prison. By next week, Avery’s lawyers will learn what the prosecution’s arguments will be.
Avery filed an appeal on January 7 to overthrow his 2007 murder conviction, in which he was found guilty of the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach. The appeal comes after a judge denied his request for a new trial in November 2015.
In the appeal, Avery filed two motions, one that accuses the prosecution of violating his due process rights, claiming that the search warrant conducted inside his home and on his property should have been inadmissible in court. The second motion accuses the jury of being tainted after one juror said that Avery was “”F****** Guilty!”
According to the court documents , Avery contends that the judge committed fraud by not declaring a mistrial after the juror’s comment. He also stated that he didn’t trust his former defense attorney Thomas Aquino, who he claims misled the court and refused to interview people who were known as “whistleblowers” for the case.
A new appeal filed in Steven Avery’s case asks that he be released on bail #MakingAMurderer https://t.co/kWqXc22gOU pic.twitter.com/KHcBlHtn6k
— WPDE ABC15 (@wpdeabc15) January 13, 2016
Avery also requested to be released on bail while the Wisconsin state appeals court decides what to do with his case. Wisconsin’s Assistant Attorney General Thomas Fallon argued that Avery’s bail request should be denied, calling him a “flight risk.”
In a letter written to the appeals court, Fallon stated that Avery “has nothing to lose” and if given bail, he’d flee the state, and that there is “substantial reasons exist for this court to deny Avery’s motion.” Thomas wrote,
“Avery no longer enjoys any presumption of innocence. He stands convicted of first-degree intentional homicide and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, and he received a life sentence without possibility of parole. There is a substantial risk Avery will not appear to answer the judgment following the conclusion of his post-conviction proceedings. He has nothing left to lose.”
Last month, high-powered wrongful conviction attorney Kathleen Zellner stepped in to take over the Avery case, and in a short amount of time, has already made tremendous progress in pushing the case forward.
According to Zellner, a lot of the evidence in the case was tampered with, including Halbach’s vehicle and a blood vial containing a sample of Avery’s blood. She recently made a trip to see Avery and collect a new sample of his blood. She tweeted that the samples will be used “for new tests.”
Meanwhile, recent court records unveiled reveal that Avery’s cellmate at the Waupun Correctional Institution, Jason Thomaschaske, verbally blasted the popular inmate, saying that Avery was a “disrespectful, a disgusting human being, he never leaves his cell.” The court documents indicate that Thomaschaske said that Avery was doing things to intentionally taunt him, but when Thomaschaske reacted, Avery allegedly said the following.
“Go ahead and do something, then I can sue WCI for not protecting me.”
Thomaschaske reportedly said, “I want to kill this guy,” which prompted prison supervisors to move the men into different cells with different cellmates.
Steven Avery remains in prison, but continues to receive an outpour of support and love from people all over the world who believe he’s innocent. A petition addressed to President Obama and Governor Scott Walker, entitled “Free Steven Avery,” has reached over 500,000 signatures . The petition’s creator, Michael Seyedian of Arvada, Colorado, hopes to reach a million signatures.
[Photo by Netflix]
