MANITOWOC, Wisc. ( ) - The circuit court judge handling the Steven Avery case does not see the need for a status hearing in the case, despite .

Avery is serving a life sentence for killing photographer Teresa Halbach in 2005. Last month, Avery's attorney , seeking testing of evidence, suggesting it could point to someone else being the killer.

After Avery's appellate team asked for extensive scientific testing of evidence in the case, Asst. Atty. Gen. Thomas Fallon last week asked for a hearing sometime in late October or early November.

But in , Sheboygan County Judge Angela Sutkiewicz - who took over the case from Manitowoc County Judge Patrick Willis after his retirement - said a hearing isn't needed.

"It is the court's understanding that the state needs a reasonable amount of time to locate and inventory the items which are the subject of the defendant's motion and to determine which items are covered by the April 4, 2007 order of Judge Willis. As required by statute, the court is giving the state an opportunity to respond to the defendant's motion. The court does not see the need for a status conference," she wrote.



The case of Avery and his then-teenage nephew Brendan Dassey, who was convicted in a separate trial of playing a role in the murder, was thrust into the worldwide spotlight late last year with the release of the series "Making A Murderer" on Netflix. Dassey's earlier this summer, but the that decision.



