A Wisconsin man convicted in the killing of a woman that was the focus of the hit Netflix series Making a Murderer has been denied a request for a new trial.

Steven Avery’s attorney said she planned to present fresh evidence to the court to try to revive his request after it was rejected by a state circuit judge. Avery had argued that his conviction in the death in 2005 of photographer Teresa Halbach was based on planted evidence and false testimony.

“We have additional test results and witness affidavits,” Avery’s attorney, Kathleen Zellner, said in a statement. “The scientific testing is not completed, we remain optimistic that Mr Avery’s conviction will be vacated.”

Sheboygan county circuit judge Angela Sutkiewicz said in her ruling on Tuesday that based on the evidence presented so far, Avery failed to establish grounds to warrant a new trial. Avery argued that new scientific tests cast doubt on evidence submitted at his trial, presented alternate theories about the killing and questioned the motives of police.

However, the judge said that given the totality of evidence submitted at the trial, no reasonable probability existed that a different result would be reached at a new trial.

The Wisconsin attorney general, Brad Schimel, praised the decision, saying it “brings us one step closer to providing justice to Teresa Halbach’s family”. He said the Department of Justice would continue to vigorously defend Avery’s conviction.

Avery, 55, was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree intentional homicide in the 2005 death of Halbach, a 25-year-old photographer. Avery’s nephew, Brendan Dassey, confessed to detectives he helped his uncle rape and kill Halbach at the Avery family’s salvage yard. A judge overturned Dassey’s conviction last year, ruling that investigators took advantage of the then-16-year-old Dassey’s cognitive disabilities and tricked him into confessing.

The state is fighting that ruling and a federal appeals court heard arguments in the case last week. Dassey remains in custody while the appeal is pending.

Both Avery and Dassey maintain their innocence. The case gained national attention in 2015 after Netflix aired Making a Murderer, a multi-part documentary examining Halbach’s death. The series spawned conjecture about the pair’s innocence, but those who worked on the cases accused the film-makers of leaving out key pieces of evidence and presenting a biased view of what happened. The film-makers have defended their work and supported calls to set free both Avery and Dassey.

