Judge Agrees to New Evidence Testing in Steven Avery's 'Making a Murderer' Case

Steven Avery's lawyer announced that a new evidence testing agreement has been reached in the 'Making a Murderer' case.

November 24, 2016

Not Available Lead — Image via Complex Original
Complex Original

An independent scientific testing agreement between Making a Murderer subject Steven Avery's legal team and Sheboygan County Circuit Judge Angela Sutkiewicz has been reached. Avery's attorney, Kathleen Zellner, announced Wednesday that the agreement had been signed and expressed confidence in her continued plans to have the 2007 murder conviction overturned.

"It's encouraging that the Attorney General's Office was so cooperative and helpful in expediting these tests," Zellner toldUSA Today Network-Wisconsin Wednesday night. "Our experience in our other exonerations is that's the best attitude in working toward trying to discover anything that gets to the truth."

This week's order will include the testing of key pieces of evidence, including the much-discussed spare key from Teresa Halbach's car that was reportedly discovered inside Avery’s bedroom. Zellner has expressed her desire to determine, once and for all, whether a DNA swab taken from the hood latch of the vehicle was "fabricated" from known DNA samples already in possession of local authorities at the time.

Confirmation of new evidence testing in Avery's case comes just days after his nephew, Brendan Dassey, was first believed to be nearing freedom before the state stepped in. Dassey's release hit another roadblock last week when the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that he must remain in custody during the state's appeal of his overturned conviction. Dassey had previously been scheduled to be released Nov. 18.