Yesterday, Netflix announced that their acclaimed true crime documentary Making a Murderer would return for a second season. Many of the same names from season one are set to come back. Filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos will return to cover the subject they have already spent 10 years making season one about. The show will continue to follow the story of Steven Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey as they fight to overturn their convictions in the killing of Teresa Halbach.
There will be new lawyers, though. Steven Avery has new representation in the form of wrongful conviction specialist Kathleen Zellner. If surprise social media heart throbs Dean Strang and Jerry Buting show up, it will only be to discuss their experiences during the 2006 trial of Avery, and the unfair system of justice that tends to crush the innocent and guilty alike in its gears.
Not included in the Netflix announcement: a date for when we can expect the new season to air. That’s because it’s really going to depend on what happens in the case over the next couple of months. Avery’s lawyer has been very active in the media, promising a “tsunami of new evidence” that won’t just prove Avery innocent and the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office corrupt, but may even reveal Teresa Halbach’s true killer. In an interview with Newsweek, Zellner stated she wasn’t aiming for a new trial with her appeal. She wanted the conviction vacated, which would allow Steven Avery to walk free possibly as soon as the end of the year.
Zellner’s appeal is set to be filed at the end of August, and then who knows how long it will take for the courts to review it and set a hearing date. Fortunately, continued interest in the case stemming from Making a Murderer season one and the knowledge that everything is being tracked for the upcoming Making a Murderer season two should ensure no unreasonable delays or outright denials occur in the face of purported new evidence.