Nearly 22 years after Steven Avery filed a lawsuit for his wrongful conviction in 1985, two Green Bay men are doing the same thing.
David and Robert Bintz were convicted in the 1987 murder of Sandra Lison in Green Bay, but new DNA evidence and fingerprints exonerated them in 2024.
Now, the Bintz brothers are asking to be compensated $2 million each, with the suit naming a former Wisconsin Department of Justice DCI Special Agent, a former officer with the Green Bay Police Department, and the City of Green Bay.
There are some other similarities to the Avery case, as following the Bintz brothers’ exoneration, Assembly Bill 583 and Senate Bill 577 were introduced, which would have increased the State’s wrongful conviction compensation rules, but the bill ultimately failed to pass.
Avery’s initial exoneration led to the “Avery Bill,” which made several changes to how law enforcement collects evidence.
This was all before Avery was arrested and convicted for the 2005 killing of Theresa Hallbach.
