Convicted Killer and 'Making a Murderer' Subject Steven Avery Appeals Conviction — and Here Are His Arguments

Convicted murderer Steven Avery filed an appeal with the Wisconsin Court of Appeals on Monday, seeking to overturn the much-publicized  guilty verdict for first-degree intentional homicide that landed him behind bars back in 2007 for life without a chance of parole.

Avery, who was convicted of killing 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbach, argued in court documents that were made public on Tuesday, that the search warrant used by authorities in the case was for a single property — but he claims that police improperly searched multiple properties while investigating Halbach's disappearance, the Daily Beast reported.

A screen shot from the court filing

"This warrant is clearly a warrant-less search or could clearly be stated that evidence seized or used at trial is clearly 'fruit of the poisonous tree,' illegally obtained evidence," reads Avery's filing. "The affidavit was based on clearly falsified, misleading information."

It continues, "Avery has suffered the may or loss of due process and constitutionally guaranteed rights as a citizen."

The document also claims that a juror identified as "Juror C.W." said in the jury room that Avery is "f**king guilty," which he believes denied him a fair trial among the juror's peers.

"This tainted the other jurors," the document reads, going on to claim that Juror C.W. also told "other jurors, 'If you can't handle it why don't you tell them and just leave.'"

Avery also raised the issue of an alternative juror who was put into place after deliberations began — something Avery is protesting, despite the Daily Beast noting that his attorneys approved of the seating at the time of trial.

Steven Avery, left, exits the courtroom after closing arguments in his trial, Thursday, March 15, 2007 at the Calumet County Courthouse in Chilton, Wis. (AP Photo/Dwight Nale, Pool)

The court document, which contained numerous spelling and grammatical errors, was signed by Avery on Jan. 7, 2016. It comes as his case is receiving international attention in the wake of the release of "Making a Murderer," a documentary about Avery's legal troubles.

Without spoiling too many of the documentary and case details, let’s briefly recap the key events before we move on: Avery was originally convicted of sexual assault in 1985, serving 18 years until he was exonerated in 2003 based on DNA evidence.

Two years after his exoneration and release, Avery sued the Manitowoc County sheriffs department for $36 million over his false imprisonment. But in 2005, just weeks after depositions of local cops who were associated with the case and subsequent lawsuit took place, Avery was, again, arrested — but this time on an entirely different charge: murder.

In a shocking twist of events, Avery went from a well-known exoneree in a sexual assault case to an accused killer, as prosecutors claimed that he murdered Halbach, a photographer who had come to his house on Oct. 31, 2005, to photograph a van for Auto Trader magazine.

Avery and his nephew — then-16-year-old Brendan Dassey — were eventually convicted of the crime in 2007; both men are currently serving life sentences, with the former having no chance of parole, as the New York Times reported.

Listen to Dean Strang, one of Avery's defense attorneys, telling The Church Boyspodcast why he believes Avery is innocent below:

“I know, experientially, that people who are intellectually equipped as Steven Avery is … they don’t withstand the sort of pressure from the police here, and pressure from publicity, and pressure of having 16 months of their jail conversations taped constantly,” Strang told The Church Boys podcast. “They don’t withstand that without confessing or making an incriminating statement if, in fact, they’re guilty.”

Beyond that, the lawyer said that, from the outset, his own experience and sense as a criminal defense attorney left him with this “in some ways, horrible sense that Steven Avery may be innocent, may be just stone-cold innocent.”

Strang said that, years later, he’s still “stuck with that.”

Steven Avery's defense attorney Dean Strang gives his closing arguments in the courtroom on Thursday, March 15, 2007, at the Calumet County Courthouse in Chilton, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, Pool)

As TheBlaze previously reported, prosecutor Ken Kratz and law enforcement officials have pushed back against those who question Avery’s guilt, with Manitowoc County Sheriff Robert Hermann telling USA Today that he wouldn’t exactly call “Making a Murderer” a documentary.

“A documentary puts things in chronological order and tells the story as it is. … I’ve heard things are skewed,” Hermann said, adding that he hasn’t yet watched the series. “They’ve taken things out of context and taken them out of the order in which they occurred, which can lead people to a different opinion or conclusion.”

He continued, “Show me the evidence he was framed. There is not going to be any. It didn’t happen.”

Read more about the pushback that Kratz has also given here.

(H/T: Daily Beast)