Steven Avery believes that a juror in his case had it out for him — and he’s filed legal papers saying as much.
In papers filed with the Wisconsin Court of Appeals on Tuesday, Avery — the subject of the Netflix documentary series “Making a Murderer’ — claims that a juror in his trial repeatedly stated that Avery was “fucking guilty.”
The repeated assertions, Avery claims, tainted the jury through “direct or indirect influence.” He goes on to claim that intimidation of jurors “requires a new trial.”
Avery’s legal filing also claims that the juror, identified as “C.W.,” told other jurors, “If you can’t handle it, why don’t you tell them and just leave.”
“Juror C.W. had preconceived guilt of Avery. This deprived Avery of a[n] impartial jury trial due to Juror C.W. statements [that] were made in Jury Room, Restaurant, Motel,” Avery wrote in the papers.
Avery is currently serving life in prison for the murderer of photographer Teresa Halbach.
Late last week, he acquired new counsel. Taking up the case are Illinois-based attorney Kathleen Zellner, who specializes in wrongful convictions, and Midwest Innocence Project legal director Tricia Bushnell, who will serve as Avery’s local Wisconsin counsel.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.