Wisconsin Supreme Court dismisses Steven Avery's letter

MaryBeth Matzek, Freelance Editor//March 20, 2025//

Steven Avery, left, appears during his sentencing hearing as his attorney Jerome Buting listens at the Manitowoc County Courthouse. Avery was convicted of murdering the photographer Teresa Halbach in 2005 and sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole. Buting has a deal with HarperCollins Publishers for a book being released next year. The book will be released through the Harper imprint. The case was the subject of the Netflix series, "Making A Murderer." (Dan Powers/The Post-Crescent via AP, File)

MaryBeth Matzek, Freelance Editor//March 20, 2025//

Listen to this article

IN BRIEF

The Wisconsin Supreme Court dismissed a letter written by Steven Avery from its record.
Avery wrote a six-page letter outlining why his case should be appealed and sent it without notifying his attorney.
The state’s top court is considering whether to hear his latest appeal.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court dismissed a letter written by Steven Avery from its court record.

Last week, Avery sent a six-page letter to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which was filed as a motion for miscellaneous relief. The state’s high court said it will not take the letter into account as it decides whether or not to review his case.

“Mr. Avery is not entitled to hybrid representation in which both he and counsel present arguments to the court,” the court record said.

Avery sent the letter on his own without the help or knowledge of his legal team. The letter, in part, read “the criminal justice system is broken and it has to be fixed and this is the time to fix it and get it right. Because I’m a victim of a setup and it has to be fixed now.”

Avery is serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole for the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach, a 25-year-old photographer from Calumet County, who went missing after going to the Avery family’s auto salvage in Two Rivers on a work assignment.

Avery is seeking to appeal his conviction for the third time. In August 2022, he filed a motion for postconviction relief in Manitowoc County Circuit Court. The motion alleges another man killed Halbach, framed Avery and then served as a key witness against him at trial.

A circuit county judge denied the motion in August 2023, which Avery’s attorneys then appealed to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals District II. In January, that court upheld the lower court’s rulings.

Last month, Avery’s attorneys petitioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court to review the case. If the state’s top court declines to hear Avery’s case, as it has in his previous appeal attempts, his attorneys plan to take his appeal to federal court for the first time.