'Making a Murderer' subject files motion for new trial

June 8 (UPI) -- The attorney for Making a Murderer subject Steven Avery filed a motion for a new trial in a Wisconsin court, arguing his 2007 murder conviction was based on planted evidence and false testimony.

Avery and Brendan Dassey, his nephew, were found guilty in the 2005 murder of photographer Teresa Halbach. The case was the subject of a Netflix television documentary, Making a Murderer. Avery and Dassey have maintained their innocence of the crime.

Attorney Kathleen Zellner, in a 1,272-page motion filed Wednesday at the Mantiwoc County Clerk of Courts, wrote that "Avery's post-conviction counsel have completed scientific testing and conducted an extensive reinvestigation of his case, which demonstrates that planted evidence and false testimony were used to convict Mr. Avery of first-degree intentional homicide of Teresa Halbach."

The motion says Avery's trial attorneys lacked experts and conducted an inadequate investigation in failing to prove that evidence was planted. The motion also says the district attorney was aware that Dassey's "confession was fabricated" and that a damaged bullet found at the crime scene did not penetrate Halbach. Defense attorneys also said a piece of evidence found in Dassey's bedroom, a key, was planted by sheriffs.

"Because the state did not need to establish motive, it did not spend any time trying to figure out why Mrs. Halbach was murdered," the motion states.

No spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Justice has commented on the motion.