Everything You Need To Know About The Status Of Steven Avery's Case In 2018

It's been nearly three years since Netflix audiences were first introduced to Steven Avery via Making a Murderer. Although he has always claimed his innocence, Avery was convicted of the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to the Post-Crescent. He continues to serve out his sentence in the Waupun Correctional Institution, per Wisconsin inmate records, but 2018 updates about Steven Avery's case show that the Making a Murderer subject has far from given up on overturning his conviction.

Shortly after the show propelled his case into the public's attention, high-profile lawyer Kathleen Zellner took on Avery's case in January 2016, according to ABC News. According to her website, Zellner specializes in wrongful conviction cases and has helped exonerate 19 people — many of whom were wrongfully convicted of serious charges like murder. Zellner committed herself fully to Avery's case, often giving people updates via her Twitter page as she delved into the case to help represent Avery's claims of innocence. But Zellner hit a snag in October 2017 when Avery's request for a new trial was denied, per BBC.

Still, both she and Avery have continued compiling his case in 2018. Here's what you need to know about his legal developments in the past 10 months before you check out Making a Murderer Season 2.

April 17, 2018

According to Fox 11 News, Zellner claims that the existence of a CD with possible evidence was only just disclosed to the defense in April 2018, more than 10 years after the crime.

May 15, 2018

Fox 11 News reports that Zellner filed a motion to add the CD to Avery's appeal.

June 7, 2018

According to another Post-Crescent article, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals redirects Zellner to the circuit court to have them hear her motion about the CD. Action News 2 reports that this was because new evidence requests can't be done in an appeals court, and the circuit court first needed to decide whether the CD could be added to the appeal.

June 14, 2018

Another Fox 11 News article reports that Zellner filed a motion to have a new judge assigned to the case instead of circuit level Judge Angela Sutkiewicz.

July 2, 2018

NBC 26 reports that the request for a new judge was denied.

Sept. 6, 2018

The circuit court denies Zellner's motion to add the CD to Avery's appeal, according to another Post-Crescent article. In her decision, Judge Sutkiewicz says that the same information on that CD could be found on other CDs that the defense had since December 2006.

This decision effectively kills Zellner's hope for a new trial based on the CD evidence.

Sept. 8, 2018

Zellner tweets that the ruling of one judge doesn't mean that Avery's fight is over. She promises to keep filing motions for as long as it takes to help her client.

Sept. 25, 2018

Netflix announces the Oct. 19 premiere date for Part 2 of Making a Murderer. It's likely that the producers were holding out on releasing that information pending the circuit court decision — had the CD evidence been ruled admissible for Avery's appeal, it likely would have given the Part 2 a different ending. But, as it stands, there's still nearly three years of legal ground to cover in Part 2. And in a case with as many twists as this one, it's sure to be a wild ride from start to finish.