If you thought Steven Avery’s appeal ended when a circuit judge denied his request for a new trial in August, think again.

Avery, whose conviction of the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach is featured in the Netflix docu-series “Making a Murderer,” now takes his case to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals and possibly to the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the federal justice system.

Here are five key questions surrounding Avery’s appeal and where it could be headed in the future:

What happens next for Steven Avery?

The state Court of Appeals, which consists of a three-judge panel, will review Avery’s case. His attorney, Kathleen Zellner, is welcoming the review after Sheboygan County Circuit Court Judge Angela Sutkiewicz rejected Avery’s new-trial request in early August. The defense team is “thrilled to be returning to the appellate court after all of this time,” Zellner said.

Zellner posted this Tweet recently: “Avery Reality Check: NONE of the multiple constitutional issues & new evidence found in the last 42 months has been reviewed by the appellate court. We’ve been playing a game of Hide & Seek w/the prosecutors. Game Over: an unbiased review is coming.”

The defense contends that Avery's conviction is flawed because the Wisconsin Department of Justice erred by turning over suspected human bones to Halbach’s family. That prevented the defense from testing the bones and amounted to a failure to properly preserve evidence, his attorneys argued..

Sutkiewicz ruled that Avery didn’t establish that the law for preserving evidence was violated, or that his constitutional rights were violated. But that issue, and others raised by the defense, will now be examined by the Court of Appeals.

How long will it take for the Court of Appeals to rule on the Avery case?

“There is not a set-in-stone schedule for deciding appeals, but the whole process typically takes about six to 12 months from start to finish,” said Michael M. O'Hear, professor of law at Marquette University Law School.

If Avery loses in the court appeals, would the case then go to the Wisconsin Supreme Court?

Avery could request a review by the state's Supreme Court, but the court is not required to take the case, O’Hear said. It is purely at the court’s discretion.

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Does Avery have other options if his appeal is rejected by all levels of the Wisconsin court system?

Yes, according to O’Hear.

“Since there is a constitutional aspect to his latest arguments, he could eventually go to federal district court with a habeas corpus petition,” he said.

A writ of habeas corpus is used to bring a prisoner or other detainee before the court to determine whether the person's imprisonment or detention is lawful. It proceeds as a civil action against the state agent — usually a warden — who holds the defendant in custody.

Could the appeals process run for an extended period of time?

“Yes, it could take years for both state and federal court systems to definitively resolve the issues he is now raising,” O’Hear said.

Avery, 57, was convicted of Halbach's 2005 murder. He is serving his life term at Waupun Correctional Institution.

Avery has insisted since his arrest that he is innocent and that he was unfairly targeted by Manitowoc County detectives.