Making a Murderer 2: Kathleen Zellner to file bombshell new evidence on Steven Avery case in a matter of DAYS as powerhouse lawyer explains the next steps of his appeal - EXCLUSIVE STEVEN Avery’s lawyer has exclusively opened up about the next stages of his appeal. 
 
 Steven Avery was convicted for the murder of Teresa Halbach [Wenn ] 
 
 True crime documentary Making A Murderer gripped the nation when the first season aired on Netflix in 2015, telling the story of Steven Avery, who spent 18 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of sexual assault and attempted murder in 1985. 
 
 Just two years after his release, Steven, now 56, was handed a life sentence for the murder of Teresa Halbach in 2007 without the possibility of parole – with his nephew Brendan Dassey, 29, also given a life sentence with the earliest possible parole in 2048. Both remain incarcerated, and both protest their innocence to this day. 
 
 Over a decade after the pair’s convictions, season two allowed viewers to be introduced to Avery’s new powerhouse attorney, Katheen Zellner– whose incredibly high success rates for overturning wrongful sentences has led fans worldwide to believe she could be the one to free Steven once and for all. 
 
 Kathleen Zellner is battling for Steven's release [Netflix] 
 
 Now, there’s just days until Kathleen files the appellate brief for Steven on 20 December – a document which contains all the legal arguments as to why her client should win the case. Its purpose: to persuade the judges to rule in Stevens favour, and lead to his eventual release. 
 
 “You must, if you can, create reasonable doubt by having an alternative theory that matches the evidence,” Kathleen exclusively tells OK! online. “That’s when you’re most likely to win a murder case.” 
 
 And that’s exactly what Kathleen has tried to do. The 61-year-old lawyer has made no secret of the fact she is working not only to prove Steven is innocent, but also has enough evidence to suggest a third party suspect could have been involved. 
 
 Kathleen Zellner is filing the report in a matter of days [Netflix] 
 
 The American attorney tirelessly works to disprove the findings of previous examinations and carries out a number experiments of her own. On the show, she also alleges countless times that Brendan’s brother Bobby Dassey and step-dad Scott Tadych may have been involved in the murder – something both parties vehemently denied. 
 
 Discussing the next stages in her fight for Steven to get a new trial, Kathleen told OK! online: “In one week, we’re filing the appellate brief, so we’re going to file all of this information with the higher court. We’ve got a record that’s 22,000 pages. 
 
 “The higher court is going to review all of this new evidence. After we file, the state will file their response, and then the court will have an oral argument, and then they’ll make a decision. Whatever decision they make, it’s going to go to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. So even if we win, the state will still force it to be decided by the highest court in Wisconsin.” 
 
 Making A Murderer season 2: The Netflix crime series returned for a second instalment [Netflix] 
 
 
 
 She continued: “My goal is to not just to find the constitutional violation to get Steven Avery a new trial, because many people are convicted again in their second trial. I am trying to get the evidence to what I believe is the truth of what happened, so that there won’t BE another trial. 
 
 “None of my exonerations has anyone been retried. None of them. Just this week we got a tip that was just jaw-dropping. Like, woah, somebody actually knows this. We’re getting close.” 
 
 Viewers were left in shock after Steven was denied a new trial by Sheboygan County Circuit Court judge Angela Sutkiewicz in September, with Kathleen claiming the state failed to disclose a CD they argued contains “exculpatory, material evidence”. 
 
 Brendan Dassey was also given a life sentence with the earliest possible parole in 2048 [Netflix] 
 
 In her ruling, the judge stated the defence had access to all the information on the CD in question. 
 
 Despite being disappointed with the lower court’s opinion, Kathleen explains the battle has “only just started”. 
 
 “We’ve only been in front of one judge,” she continued. “This is what is important to know. A lot of people were saying, ‘well you were turned down’. But we’ve only been in front of one judge, in the small county at the trial level, so she’s at the lowest level. 
 
 The second series continued to document Steven's story, and featured new lawyer Kathleen [NBC] 
 
 “With wrongful convictions, those get turned over by the higher court. The trail court judge typically is not going to undo a big case like this, they just let it go to a higher court. 
 
 “We’ve never been in front of a higher court with all of this information. So Brendan’s case is ten years ahead of Steven’s. We’ve only just started.” 
 
 While Kathleen – who has overturned the convictions of 19 men during her career - is confident in the new evidence she is bringing forward, she adds that witness tips still continue to be invaluable even 13 years after the murder. 
 
 Kathleen Zellner explained the next stages of Steven's appeal [Getty] 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 She continued: “I think another thing that goes on in these cases that people don’t realise is that most murder cases, cold cases, end up being solved by witnesses finally coming forward. 
 
 “Someone else knows who committed this murder, and we are already getting tips about that. I believe – it’s happened on several of my cases – that someone will come forward and say ‘I know who committed the murder, they told me they committed the murder’. That’s still in play.” 
 
 With many fans left surprised over the difficulty of getting a new trial with Kathleen’s new evidence, some questioned if Steven would even walk free if someone else confessed to the murder. 
 
 Steven Avery has always protested his innocence [Netflix] 
 
 “If someone were to confess, it would have to be corroborated,” she continued. “I had one case where my client got out, and four weeks later the state’s attorney - on a tip - had caught the two real killers, and they were arrested and gave confessions. But my clients were already released. 
 
 “As long as it’s credible – if it’s someone within the family that knows, that would undo it. So no, is that going to take years? It could be tomorrow. 
 
 “Our longest case has taken four years, we’ve been on this two and a half. Many of these cases take 10 or 15 years – I don’t think that’s going to happen. I can already see with the tips that are coming in, there are people that know what happened. It’s just a question of – will they come forward. 
 
 “We’ve gotten some really, really strong tips just this week. We’re closing in on what happened.” 
 
 Next week, Kathleen tells OK! online what is contained in the report – and why she thinks her evidence is key to freeing Steven. ||||| Two online petitions demanding the pardon of Steven Avery, the subject of the popular Netflix series Making a Murderer, have together received 100,000 signatures, just two weeks after the documentary premiered online. 
 
 *UPDATE* The petitions to free Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey have no reached over 150,000 signatures. Read the full story here. 
 
 The petitions, which are hosted on the official White House petition website and Change.org, have collectively gained a total of 114,679 signatures since they were created shortly after the show's premiere on 18 December 2015. 
 
 Making a Murderer documents the story of Steven Avery, a Wisconsin man who was sent to prison in 1985 for sexual assault and attempted murder. DNA evidence later proved that he was innocent of the crimes, and Avery was released from prison in 2003 after his conviction was overturned. 
 
 Two years after his release and his filing of a $36 million (£24.4 million) lawsuit against Manitowoc County for his wrongful conviction, he was again accused and later convicted for the murder of Teresa Halbach, a photographer who was last seen near Avery's family home. 
 
 Avery has always maintained his innocence of both alleged crimes, and during his second trial his defence team claimed Manitowoc County police had framed him for Halbach's murder. He is currently serving a life sentence at Wisconsin's Waupun Correctional Institution. 
 
 Through chronicling Avery's story, the documentary has shone a light on the challenges and alleged failings of the criminal justice system, making allegations of improper interrogations and forced confessions. 
 
 It has also picked up a huge following online, with many fans poring over the details of the case themselves and asserting the innocence of Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey, who was also implicated in Halbach's death. 
 
 The text of the White House petition, which currently has around 18,000 signatures, says that Avery and Dassey "should be given a full pardon by President Obama for their wrongful conviction in the connection to the murder of Teresa Halbach." 
 
 "Based on the evidence in the Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer, the justice system embarrassingly failed both men, completely ruining their entire lives." 
 
 Timeline: Steven Avery's convictions 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 show all Timeline: Steven Avery's convictions 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1/5 1985: Steven Avery is falsely convicted of raping a Penny Beernsten She was jogging along the shore of Lake Michigan when she was threatened with a knife and attacked. Ms Beernsten identified Avery as her rapist from a line-up that did not include the actual attacker. AFP/Getty Images 
 
 2/5 2003: Conviction overturned Avery's 32-year prison sentence was overturned after DNA testing by the Wisconsin Innocence Project proved his innocence and found a hair from Gregory Allen. He was convicted of the rape and Avery was released. 
 
 3/5 2004: Avery files federal lawsuit against Manitowoc County police A Wisconsin Department of Justice investigation found police had committed no criminal offences or ethics violations, sparking a lawsuit from Avery seeking $36 million compensation. 
 
 4/5 2005: Avery is arrested for Teresa Halbach's murder His Avery Auto Salvage business was the freelance photographer's last appointment of 31 October. She was reported missing four days later and police later found her car, bones, teeth and belongings at the site. Avery pleaded not guilty but was sentenced to life in prison in 2007. 
 
 5/5 201: Netflix releases Making a Murderer The 10-episode documentary came after Avery's conviction was upheld in a 2011 appeal. 
 
 It also alleges that Manitowoc County police used "improper methods" to ensure the conviction of both men, and calls the entire episode a "black mark on the justice system as a whole." This petition still needs around 80,000 signatures before it is considered by White House staff. 
 
 The Change.org petition, which currently has around 97,000 signatures, also says Avery should recieve a presidential pardon, and calls for the Manitowoc County officials involved in the case to be "held accountable" in front of the law. 
 
 Officials have denied the series' claims of legal wrongdoing, with Manitowoc County Sheriff Robert Hermann telling local newspaper the Herald Times Reporter that the filmmakers "have 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." 
 
 Former district attorney Ken Kratz, who acted as prosecutor in Avery and Dassey's trials, also told a local news station that "80 to 90 per cent" of the physical evidence that allegedly ties Avery to Halbach's murder was not presented in the documentary. 
 
 He alleged the show's creators, Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, had not given him the opportunity to respond to the documentary's claims - something the filmmakers deny. 
 
 All 10 episodes of Making a Murderer are currently available to stream on Netflix.
– Steven Avery has filed a fresh appeal in his Wisconsin murder case—and thanks to the hit Netflix documentary Making a Murderer, there are now a lot more people paying attention. The appeal filed in a Madison court on Monday, which can be seen in full here, accuses authorities of searching his property illegally and claims that a juror with a preconceived notion that he was guilty improperly influenced other jurors during his 2007 trial for the murder of Teresa Halbach, the AP reports. Avery recently secured new legal representation from Chicago-area lawyer Kathleen Zellner and the Midwest Innocence Project, reports WBAY, but Monday's court filing appears to have been prepared without the new legal team. Zellner specializes in reversing convictions, and she says she has found new evidence that will exonerate Avery, reports NBC News. The Netflix documentary suggests that Avery—who served 18 years for a rape he didn't commit before being released two years before the Halbach murder—is the victim of a conspiracy, and a petition urging President Obama and Gov. Scott Walker to free him now has more than 415,000 signatures. Walker, however, has never pardoned anybody, and WBAY reports that he has signaled he isn't going to start with Avery. Netflix viewers "should read the unanimous opinion of the Court of Appeals before jumping to conclusions," he said in a Facebook post.