White House Says It Can't Pardon Steven Avery Of 'Making A Murderer'

A petition asking President Barack Obama to grant a pardon earned over 100,000 signatures.

The White House on Thursday said President Barack Obama does not have the constitutional authority to pardon Steven Avery, the Wisconsin man convicted of a 2005 murder who is featured in the Netflix documentary "Making A Murderer."

A White House petition asking Obama to grant a pardon earned over 100,000 signatures, but the White House said that the president only has the authority to grant a pardon in federal criminal cases, not state cases like Avery's. The White House's response also addressed several petitions asking Obama to begin conversations with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), who has also said he would not pardon Avery. It also touched on other petitions asking Obama to urge the judiciary to start a retrial.

Avery was convicted in the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach, a young photographer who had come to visit his property to photograph a car. He is currently serving a life sentence.

Avery's lawyers have suggested that police planted evidence against him. When he was arrested for Halbach's murder, he was pursuing a $36 million lawsuit against Manitowoc County officials for wrongly imprisoning him for 18 years in relation to a 1985 sexual assault. Avery was exonerated in 2003 by DNA evidence.

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"Young L.A. Girl Slain; Body Slashed in Two" ― L.A.'s Daily News

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