Despite relentless pleas from his supporters, convicted murderer Steven Avery won’t be walking out of prison anytime soon.

But don’t discount his chances; Avery could be on the path to freedom, criminal justice experts say.

Avery, whose conviction in the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach is featured prominently in both seasons of the hit Netflix docu-series “Making a Murderer,” contends that his conviction is flawed because the Wisconsin Department of Justice erred by turning over suspected human bones to Halbach’s family.

It prompted the Wisconsin Court of Appeals to remand the issue to the circuit court, which has yet to rule or hold a hearing on the matter.

Whether Avery’s due process rights were violated by the justice department's actions is a subject of debate for criminal justice experts.

“On the one hand, after conviction the presumption of guilt, not innocence, takes hold. The burden then lies with the defense to overcome that presumption and, in general, present evidence casting doubt on the integrity of the verdict,” said Daniel S. Medwed, professor of Law and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University in Boston.

“On the other hand, at first blush, this claims seems like fairly compelling evidence: not of innocence necessarily, but of a lack of fair play by the prosecutors at trial, if indeed they mischaracterized the forensic evidence and improperly suggested that everything occurred on Avery’s property.” (The bones that were turned over to the Halbachs were believed to have been found in a gravel pit near the Avery residence).

The key, Medwed said, is whether the misstep affected the trial outcome and a new trial is in order.

“In short, while the odds of a new trial are — and always have been — remote, Zellner is one of the best post-conviction lawyers in the field and this claim about the prosecutors’ mischaracterization of the evidence strikes me as significant,” he said.

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Ray Dall’Asto, a Milwaukee attorney, said the defense has raised a valid point by focusing "on the preservation of forensic evidence that could be subject to DNA testing."

Dall’Asto said law enforcement “has a duty … when investigating a crime scene to preserve evidence for testing."

"Testing the evidence, especially the hard biological evidence, is critical," he said. “DNA testing can change the course of a case."

Dall'Asto said vacating Avery’s conviction and dismissing the case is unlikely, but “vacating and having a new trial is possible.”

Michael M. O'Hear, professor of law at Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee, cautioned that a new trial is not a given.

“Avery is getting a hearing back in the circuit court on a fairly limited issue, that is, whether the state improperly turned over the bones from the (nearby) gravel pit to the Halbach family without providing notice to Avery,” O’Hear said.

“This is still a far cry from Avery winning a whole new trial. The big challenge for Avery has been, and will continue to be, demonstrating that any improprieties by the state actually mattered to his conviction. Until a judge acknowledges some real doubt about Avery's guilt, he is unlikely to get a new trial.”

Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske is confident that Avery’s conviction is solid and won’t be overturned.

“It doesn’t look to me like (Zellner’s) got enough. (Avery) has to show his constitutional rights were denied. Her argument is that bones could have been tested if they hadn’t been provided to Halbach family. That alone doesn’t seem like the justification for a new trial or a reversal.

“Secondly, there is so much evidence against Avery. (The state) tested his convictions in circuit court and appeals court and conviction was upheld,” she said. “It takes a lot to get a new trial and this isn’t (sufficient) evidence.”

Contact Andy Thompson at 920-996-7270 or by email at awthompson@postcrescent. You can follow him on Twitter @Thompson_AW