Here's What Wisconsin's Governor Has To Say About Steven Avery's Case
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker just flashed a big middle finger at all you Steven Avery supporters out there.
WARNING: LIGHT SPOILERS IN THIS POST!
If you haven't finished “Making a Murderer” yet, fake an illness now, leave work, go home, watch the rest of the series, come back to work, read this article and then continue on with your day.
Despite seemingly clear police corruption, evidence planting, jury coercion and a prosecution led by the worst human being in Wisconsin (eat sh*t, Ken Kratz), Steven Avery was convicted of murdering Teresa Halbach and forcing his nephew, Brendan Dassey, to rape her in his family's auto salvage yard.
As things stand now, both Avery and Dassey will probably spend the rests of their lives in jail, a fact that led thousands of people to petition the White House for presidential pardons.
But, the reality of the situation is the White House can't make rulings on a state level, which means the onus of clearing Steven's name falls to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and it appears if there's one thing Scott Walker doesn't like, it's Steven Avery's case.
On Monday, the governor posted the following to his Facebook page, implying Steven Avery will not be getting a pardon from his office.
Viewers of the Netflix series on Steven Avery should read the unanimous opinion of the Court of Appeals before jumping... Posted by Governor Scott Walker on Monday, January 11, 2016
Governor Walker posted the Wisconsin Court of Appeals' unanimous ruling against Avery, instructing followers to read the document before drawing any conclusions about the case.
If you don't feel like spending the week trying to figure out exactly what the ruling says, the basic gist is Avery appealed on three legal points, each of which was rejected by the three-judge panel.
The panel rejected the first point of Avery's appeal, saying,
The Trial Court Properly Admitted Evidence Recovered During the November 8 Search of Avery's Trailer.
Remember that random RAV4 key police mysteriously found several days into the search?
That key has been a major sticking point for the defense and one of the main pieces of evidence supporting the theory of police corruption in the case.
Even though this key was found days after the initial search, it was still found during legal warranted searches, leading the appeals court to reject Avery's attempt at getting the key excluded from evidence.
The court addressed the second claim by concluding,
The Trial Court Properly Excluded Evidence of Third-Party Liability.
Avery claimed there were other people present on the premises who could have potentially murdered Teresa Halbach.
The issue is Avery can't provide motives for any of the other people, which would be needed for the appeals court to decide in Avery's favor.
The three judges also rejected the appeal's final claim, which involved the dismissal of one of the jurors, stating,
Avery Consented to the Substitution of a Deliberating Juror.
According to Avery, one juror from the case was improperly excused during the trial for a family emergency. The court, however, ruled there was no evidence at the time the juror didn't have a family emergency that required him to leave the trial.
But, it isn't all bad for Avery. Last week, Illinois lawyer Kathleen Zellner, who specializes in conviction reversals, apparently took over Avery's defense.
In a statement, she reportedly said there is new evidence that will lead to Avery's release, though she didn't say what that evidence is.
Citations: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Makes His Opinion Of 'Making A Murderer' Subject Steven Avery Known (UPROXX), State of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Steven A. Avery, Defendant-Appellant (COURT OF APPEALS OF WISCONSIN), Gov. Scott Walker Says No Pardon for 'Making a Murderer' Subject Steven Avery (NBC News)
