Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey were both charged, convicted and imprisoned for life for the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach. In many respects, that's where the similarities end.

The cases have diverged significantly since the two men were accused in Halbach's death. But that doesn't mean their appeals are necessarily unrelated.

A major development in Avery's appeal could potentially benefit Dassey, particularly if Avery's attorney were to turn up evidence relevant to Dassey's case, according to legal experts. But it's less clear whether the reverse is true.

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"If there is something the court determines is new evidence that undermines the reliability of Avery's conviction, I think that that is something that Dassey would likely be able to use as well because Dassey's conviction is based entirely on his involvement with Avery in the killing," said Michael O’Hear, professor of law at Marquette University Law School.

"So if something comes up to show that Avery didn't do it, then Dassey's conviction no longer has any reliability either because there's not really any evidence, I don't think, that would suggest he might have done it by himself or might have done it with some third person."

Separate juries convicted the two men, whose cases were examined in the hit Netflix docuseries "Making a Murderer."

Their cases are now in vastly different stages in the legal system.

In a lengthy court filing in early June, Avery's attorney Kathleen Zellner asked for a new trial and alleged that Avery's conviction was based on planted evidence and false testimony. It's been something of a waiting game in the month since Zellner filed the nearly 1,300-page motion in Manitowoc County Circuit Court, with no public response from the judge or prosecutors.

Meanwhile, Dassey has come out on top in two federal rulings. Last month, he won a federal appeal in which a divided court upheld a lower court decision to overturn his conviction on the grounds that his confession was involuntary. The Wisconsin Department of Justice has requested a rehearing before the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

The state also has the option to retry him.

At this point in the process, favorable developments in Dassey's case are unlikely to have a legal impact on Avery's appeal, experts said.

"In the Teresa Halbach murder, the issue that led to an order for a new trial for Brendan Dassey doesn’t apply to Steven Avery, it’s the circumstances of (Dassey's) confession," said University of Michigan Law School professor Samuel Gross.

Dassey didn't testify at Avery's trial, and two charges that had been added to Avery's case based on what Dassey told police were dismissed before trial.

That said, "if the allegation is that they did this together and one piece is now up in the air, that certainly doesn't hurt Avery," said Barbara O'Brien, associate professor of law at Michigan State University College of Law.

In the days after the divided federal appellate court upheld the lower court decision overturning Dassey's conviction, Zellner took to Twitter to say the cases are connected.

Dassey's conviction relied heavily on the confession that federal judges have now thrown out.

The majority in the latest ruling wrote in its decision that the case against Dassey rested almost entirely on his interviews with police and a phone call with his mother — but no physical evidence.

Zellner's efforts could help Dassey if she were to turn up something relevant to his case, including evidence that points to a different suspect, Gross said.

At this point, though, the judge in Avery's case has a lot of discretion in deciding what happens next, and can hold a hearing on Zellner's motion or deny it without a hearing.

Alison Dirr: 920-996-7266 or adirr@gannett.com; on Twitter @AlisonDirr