Judge Denies Steven Avery’s Appeal For New Trial

A Sheboygan County judge has turned down a request by Steven Avery for a new trial.

Avery is serving a life sentence for the 2005 killing of Teresa Halbach, a photographer who went to Avery’s salvage yard to take pictures of used cars and never seen again.

The case has become nationally known because of a 2015 documentary, “Making A Murderer,” that aired on Netflix.

Kathleen Zellner, Avery’s attorney, alleged the prosecution withheld a CD seized from one of his family’s computer hard drives and that it hurt his defense, warranting a new trial.

During the investigation, investigators seized eight CDs taken from the hard drives of computers owned by Avery and his relatives, including his nephew Brendan Dassey, who was also convicted in relation to the crime. Dassey was a teenager at the time and is also serving a life sentence.

The Appleton Post-Crescent reported Zellner argued prosecutors turned over only seven of eight CDs containing evidence to Avery’s trial attorneys in 2006. She contended the failure to disclose the disc violated Avery’s rights and he deserves a new trial.

Sheboygan County Circuit Judge Angela Sutkiewicz ruled Thursday that Zellner didn’t prove the state suppressed any evidence, noting the eighth disc contained mostly the same information on the other seven.

Sutkiewicz said in her decision that Avery’s computer hard drive included “violent pornography.”

Dassey is working on his own appeal.

Avery’s lawyer didn’t return a call seeking comment.