Attorney For Steven Avery Requests DNA Testing Before Filing Appeal

The attorney for a Wisconsin inmate featured in the hit Netflix documentary series “Making a Murderer” has filed a motion seeking permission to perform extensive scientific tests on evidence she believes will show he’s innocent.

Steven Avery is serving life without parole for the 2005 murder of photographer Teresa Halbach. He was convicted in 2007 but insists authorities framed him.

Avery’s Attorney, Kathleen Zellner, filed the motion for testing Friday. She told reporters outside the courthouse that she wants to date blood and DNA found at the scene to see if it was planted.

Avery contends police planted his blood at his family’s car salvage lot in Manitowoc County where Halbach’s car was found.

Zellner said the results will show Avery isn’t guilty and someone else killed Halbach. No one who is guilty would ever agree to such testing, she said.

Avery’s conviction came after he’d served a lengthy prison term for a rape which he was eventually proven not to have committed.

Avery’s nephew, Brendan Dassey, was also convicted in Halbach’s death but had his case overturned earlier this month by a federal judge in Milwaukee. The state has until early November to decide if it will challenge that ruling.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional reporting from WPR.