MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey asked Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers to shorten their prison sentences for the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach. While both maintain their innocence in their commutation applications, Dassey questions if Avery was involved in the murder.
Evers established the Commutation Advisory Board earlier this year to review requests to shorten prison sentences. It is separate from the governor granting pardons to overturn convictions. The Avery and Dassey requests come in the final months of Evers’ time as governor, as he is not running for re-election to a third term.
After their convictions, Avery, now 64, was sentenced to life in prison with no chance at parole. Dassey, now 36, was sentenced to life in prison but is eligible to ask for parole in 2048. To date, all of their appeals have been denied.
In his application, Avery again maintains his innocence.
“I did not commit this crime. I feel bad for Teresa Halbach’s family because they had to suffer such a tremendous loss. But I did not cause their loss,” Avery wrote.
Avery also addressed how commutation would benefit the community, which is a part of the application.
If I am granted a commutation, I look forward to starting my own auto body business and spending time with my children and grandchildren. I believe being released into the community, where I could work, run my own business, and be there for my family, would be good for me and good for the community.
Avery’s current attorney, Peter Lindstrom, contends the judicial system made a mistake.
“Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is a bedrock principle of our criminal justice system. Yet, grave doubts about Mr. Avery’s guilt continue to exist more than 20 years after Teresa Halbach was murdered,” Lindstrom wrote. “We ask the executive branch to exercise its right to be a check on the judicial branch and grant Steven Avery a commutation.”
Lindstrom said Avery is not asking for declaration of innocence, but for his sentence to be ended.
Dean Strang, who represented Avery at his trial, also supports the petition.
In the end, though, commutation specifically — and clemency more generally — is not about assigning fault or blame. It is not about who won or lost yesterday. It is about doing better now than we did then. It is about coming closer to doing right on the information and perspective we have in the present, unconstrained by a legal system that focuses only on what was known and done in the past. Ultimately, clemency is about being the most humane, most just, and most merciful that we can be today, as a model for tomorrow. It is not about Steven Avery himself, really, unique though his case is. It is about us. As citizens of Wisconsin, we fund, promote, and submit to this system. Acknowledging all of this, please commute Steven Avery’s sentence.
Dassey also maintained his innocence, but questioned Avery’s.
That day, I came home from school and stayed home all afternoon. That night Steven asked me to help him clean his garage floor and put a van seat and tires on his bonfire. I didn’t see or hear anything unusual. If I had I would have told my mom and called police. I don’t know anything about what happened to Teresa Halbach. Now that I’m older, part of me thinks it’s possible that Steven might have been involved because of how he treated women. If Steven was getting me to help him clean up blood and build a bonfire to burn Teresa Halbach’s body without me knowing, that would really bother me. It would mean that I was involved in covering up someone losing their life. I don’t want anything to do with that. I could never hurt anyone. That’s not who I am. I am really upset and sad that Teresa Halbach lost her life. If I get out I want nothing to do with Steven ever again.
In response to the question on how his release would benefit society, Dassey wrote he would get a job and support his mother.
“If I have extra money I would like to help people who are less fortunate, like families that can’t pay for Christmas presents or birthday presents. I want to be a good role model for other people. I want my name to stand for something good,” he said.
Evers denied Dassey’s request for a pardon in 2019.
The Commutation Board has not placed either case on an agenda, and is not required to do so. The governor’s office provided this summary about the process:
“To be clear, because we think it’s really important for readers and the public to understand: just because an individual submits an application for a commutation doesn’t mean their application will be considered by the board; just because an individual is considered for a commutation doesn’t mean the board will recommend them for a commutation; just because an individual may be recommended for a commutation by the board doesn’t mean the commutation will be approved; just because an individual’s commutation is approved doesn’t necessarily mean the individual will be released (because some people who receive commutations may still remain incarcerated, which is something a lot of people don’t realize),” Evers’ office said.
Avery is currently at the Fox Lake Correctional Institution, while Dassey is currently at the Oshkosh Correctional Institution, state records show.
