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Chilton — The central piece of Steven Avery's defense — that sheriff's deputies planted his blood in Teresa Halbach's car — suffered three setbacks Monday.

The developments occurred on an unusual day of Avery's trial — the proceedings were held without the jury and the specter of the O.J. Simpson trial was raised.

• Marc LeBeau, head of the chemistry unit at FBI headquarters in Virginia, testified that Avery's blood almost certainly was not planted in Halbach's car.

To reach that opinion, LeBeau used so-called EDTA testing that the FBI had used only once before — in Simpson's 1995 murder trial.

• The judge in Avery's trial, Patrick Willis of Manitowoc County Circuit Court, ruled that the jury will be allowed to hear LeBeau's testimony.

Avery's lead attorney, Dean Strang, had argued that the EDTA testing process was unreliable and implored Willis "not to join Judge (Lance) Ito's club." That was a reference to the Simpson trial judge.

But Willis said the test results will help the jury render verdicts and that Avery's lawyers can question the process while cross-examining the FBI chemist.

• Willis refused a request by Avery's attorneys to conduct their own EDTA testing.

Willis pointed out that Avery's lawyers discovered a vial of Avery's blood left unsecured in the Manitowoc County Courthouse in July 2006, giving them plenty of time to have it tested. Therefore, he concluded, they did not have a right to a months-long delay in the trial or a mistrial, as they requested.

Avery's lawyers claim that Manitowoc County sheriff's deputies put Avery's blood from the vial into Halbach's car in an attempt to frame him with her murder.

EDTA, or ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, is a synthetic chemical that is used to preserve blood but is also found in countless products, including food, shampoo and detergents.

The FBI tested samples of Avery's blood found in three places in Halbach's car and found no EDTA. That indicated that the blood found there did not come from the blood vial in the courthouse.