The lawyer representing "Making a Murderer" subject Steven Avery has filed a motion accusing investigators of framing him in the murder of Teresa Halbach in 2005, and demanding physical evidence for further scientific testing she claims didn't exist during the trial.
On Friday, Kathleen Zellner walked into the Manitowoc Circuit Court and hand-delivered the motion, a spokesperson for the Midwest Innocence Project, told TheWrap. According to Newsweek, Zellner revealed that "Mr. Avery has already completed a series of tests that will conclusively establish his innocence" and that she intends to reveal an alternate suspect once she has the results of the tests.
Avery's lawyers called the motion "the most comprehensive, thorough and advanced forensic testing ever requested by a criminal defendant in the State of Wisconsin," according to ABC.
Also Read: 'Making a Murderer': Steven Avery's Lawyer Finally Heads to Manitowoc (Photo)
In the reportedly 45-page motion, Avery asks for "post-conviction testing of physical evidence," adding that "considerable progress has been made in forensic DNA methods, procedures and tests, including the development of tests for the specific detection of blood, saliva, semen and urine."
Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey were convicted in 2007 for the murder of Teresa Halbach two years earlier. When the Netflix docuseries on the subject, "Making a Murderer," was released in December, the nation was split over whether Avery was guilty or local law enforcement framed a man who had just been exonerated in a rape case for which he spent 18 years in prison.
The motion also claims Avery is willing to pay for these tests. He is also seeking "body fluid source testing that could identify the source of the bodily fluids found on the victim's vehicle key and hood latch." New technology can distinguish whether DNA is from blood, saliva, semen or urine, and Avery claims that if he was truly bleeding from his finger like prosecutors claimed, there should be blood DNA on the hood of Halbach's car.
Also Read: 'Making a Murderer': Will Steven Avery's Lawyer Pitch New Theory on Halbach Murder Today? (Updated)
He is also requested radiocarbon testing, "which could definitely establish the age of Mr. Avery's blood found in the victim's vehicle and determine, based on the age, if the blood was planted."
The lawyers are also requesting the battery cable, the interior hood release and the blinker light of the RAV4, found at the Avery Salvage Yard a few days after Halbach went missing on Halloween in 2005. They are also asking for advanced DNA analysis on previously-tested items, such as the license plates.
At the same time, Zellner also filed motion with the Court of Appeals of Wisconsin to hold Avery's appeal until a ruling is made on the new testing.
"Defendant-Appellant Steven Avery, by his attorneys Kathleen T. Zellner, Douglas H. Johnson, and Tricia J. Bushnell, hereby moves this court pursuant for an order to hold this appeal in abeyance and to suspend the briefing schedule pending the resolution and completion of scientific testing in State v. Aver," read the motion, obtained by TheWrap.
