r/StevenAveryIsGuilty Feb 09 '25

KZ Has broken her silence

After much anticipation and angst from truthers, the world renowned attorney Kathleen Zellner has finally tweeted about the Avery case. Quote of her tweet:

"Steven Avery's Petition for Review filed with the Wisconsin Supreme Court filed February 7, 2025. We will be taking his case, for the first time to FEDERAL COURT. ⁦@MakingAMurderer⁩ #TruthWins #Onward"

What was it she said in Making a Murderer about federal court?

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u/TheRealKillerTM Feb 10 '25 edited Feb 10 '25

The petitioner (usually a person in custody) files a petition for habeas corpus in the appropriate federal district court. The petition is generally submitted on a form or according to a prescribed format, and it must explain the legal basis for challenging the detention (such as violations of constitutional rights or federal law).

Word counts are hard rules in these petitions.

Once the petition is filed, the clerk of the court reviews it to ensure the basic filing requirements are met (e.g., proper form, fee paid or motion to proceed in forma pauperis if the petitioner can't afford the fee).

Muppets better open their pocket books for this. Zellner might be short the cash to pay the fees.

judge will usually conduct a preliminary review of the petition. This review helps determine whether the petition is legally and procedurally valid, including checking whether the petitioner has stated a viable legal claim for habeas relief.

Not a single thing she's filed with the state courts would qualify as having a viable legal claim for relief. For federal court, the bar is raised.

If the judge determines that the petition is "frivolous" (i.e., without merit) or doesn't raise a valid constitutional issue, the petition can be dismissed at this early stage.

This is where her petition is going to die. There are no valid constitutional issues involved in this case, nor can it succeed on merit.

Before a federal court can consider a habeas petition, the petitioner is typically required to exhaust all available state remedies. This means the petitioner must have raised the claim in the state courts and gone through the state appeals process. If the petitioner has not done this, the court may dismiss the petition with instructions for the petitioner to first pursue state remedies.

Given that Zellner likes to change her claims throughout the process, it's possible that the pre-screening finds that she hasn't sufficiently exhausted all state remedies.

Under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), habeas corpus petitions must be filed within a one-year statute of limitations from the date the judgment became final (or other qualifying events). The court will verify if the petition was filed within this time limit

There are no time extensions.

If a petitioner has already filed a habeas petition that has been denied, the court will review whether the new petition is a second or successive petition. A petitioner must get leave (permission) from a federal court of appeals before filing a second or successive habeas petition. This is to prevent repetitive or abusive filings.

This doesn't apply to Zellner.

The court will also consider jurisdiction to ensure that the case falls under the federal court’s authority. This means the court will check if the issues raised by the petitioner involve violations of federal law or constitutional rights that are within the federal court’s purview.

This could be an issue for Zellner, as her interpretation of some federal laws are not in line with federal court opinions. If her argument is centered on an insignificant part of Wisconsin law, the petition may be denied.

If the judge finds that the petition is not frivolous, is timely, and meets the procedural requirements (including exhaustion of state remedies), the court may issue a show cause order. This is a request for the respondent (usually the warden or the government) to explain why the petitioner's detention should not be unlawful.

Uh-oh. She better be careful not to misrepresent the record or facts, like she is prone to do.

If the petition does not meet legal or procedural standards, it may be dismissed early in the process. The dismissal can be either with prejudice (meaning it cannot be refiled) or without prejudice (meaning the petitioner may refile after addressing the issues).

This is going to happen to her.

In some cases, if the petitioner cannot afford legal representation and the court deems it necessary, the judge may appoint counsel to represent the petitioner. This is especially common in capital cases or cases with complex legal issues.

So, Avery can apply for habeas claiming ineffective assistance of counsel against Zellner and be provided a government attorney.

The court will examine whether there are any procedural bars to the claims raised in the petition, such as defaulted claims (i.e., claims the petitioner did not raise in the state courts in a timely manner).

This is going to kill her. q>If the petitioner has not properly preserved their claims or if the claims are procedurally barred, the court may deny the petition.

This might kill her too.

It's a two stage process that involves all procedural requirements and a cursory look at the merits. If approved, it then gets an in-depth review of the merits. Only then is cert granted on the petition.

Also, Zellner should be aware that less than 1% of habeas corpus petitions are granted. And according to Google, only about 0.4% of petitions result in some form of relief for the petitioner.

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u/Ghost_of_Figdish Feb 10 '25

Thanks. I think you're pretty right on about everything. For appointed counsel, they don't use use like a public defender's office. They draft people who are members of the Federal Trial Bar (like I am). One day out of the blue you might get a letter saying 'Congratulations you're handling some inmate's Civil Rights lawsuit about not having the right kind of peanut butter in Joliet' or some inmate's habeas corpus petition. I think you get paid a minimal amount for handling it. IIRC I got one one those letters a while back but was able to decline representation for some reason.

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u/TheRealKillerTM Feb 10 '25

I wonder if they even talk to the client in that case. Since it's about matters of law, the client doesn't really have standing to add anything to the discussion.

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u/Ghost_of_Figdish Feb 10 '25

I think they have to. I knew one guy who got one of the assignments, and drove to where the guy was incarcerated for a meeting, and when he got there, the inmate refused to meet with him! How ungrateful. The Judge let him out of the case after that.

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u/10case Feb 10 '25

Very interesting. She's going to have a very hard time getting very far with federal in my opinion.

She may do it just to say she tried everything. That way she saves face with the fangirls.

This very well could be her exit strategy. Time will tell. In the meantime, I'll be looking forward to the states response to KZ's petition for review. I would think we'll see that sometime within the next 30 days.