Could Steven Avery soon be a free man? Earlier this week, a White House petition that asked the Obama administration to pardon Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey from prison "for the alleged involvement in the murder of Teresa Halbach" was released, and has now gotten over 100,000 signatures. Avery and Dassey are the subjects of the new Netflix true crime series "Making a Murderer" and many people are passionate that the two did not kill Halbach and were instead framed for the crime.
The petition was made on the WhiteHouse.gov website We The People, which said, "a petition must reach 100,000 signatures within 30 days" to "require a response." The petition that asked for the release of Avery and Dassey was published on Dec. 20 and currently has over 115,000 signatures, meaning that the White House must now respond.
"The power to grant pardons is vested in the President alone," according to the Department of Justice website, but the president can only pardon federal criminal convictions and Avery's case was against the state of Wisconsin, not against the United States. The only person who has the power to pardon Avery is Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
Despite the existence of the White House petition, Walker declared on Wednesday that he would not issue a pardon to Avery, as HNGN previously reported.
"Making a Murderer" explores the story of Avery, a man from Manitowoc County, Wisc., who was freed from prison after serving 18 years for a crime he did not commit, only to be convicted on a life sentence for allegedly killing photographer Teresa Halbach in 2005, less than two years after he was released.
Want to know more about the Netflix series "Making a Murderer?" Check out five things to know about the series here.
