'Making a Murderer': Appeals court rejects Steven Avery's bid for new trial

July 28 (UPI) -- The Wisconsin Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected a bid for a new trial by Steven Avery, the subject of Netflix's Making a Murderer.

The panel unanimously declined to review evidence his lawyers said would clear him in the 2005 slaying of photographer Teresa Halbach. Defense attorneys said there was insufficient scientific evidence, in effective trial counsel and prosecutorial misconduct that should warrant a new trial.

The court said a section of Avery's motion seeking a new trial was "unintelligible."

"We express no opinion about who committed this crime: The jury has decided this question, and our review is confined to whether the claims before us entitle Avery to an evidentiary hearing," the court's opinion read. "We conclude that the circuit court did not erroneously exercise its discretion.

Avery and his nephew, Brendan Dassey, were the subjects of a two-season docu-series on Netflix that examined the case. The two were found guilty in 2007 of Halbach's murder and are both serving life in prison in Wisconsin.

A federal judge threw out Dassey's confession, which he gave at age 16, saying he was intellectually impaired and coerced by investigators. An appeals court overturned the judge's ruling and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case.