TV

TMZ has solved an unsolved mystery in "Making A Murderer" ... who the heck is this unidentified "international recording artist" on Steven Avery's jury?!

Turns out ... the international recording artist is just a small town guitarist.

Richard Mahler, the juror who was excused for a family emergency, tells TMZ he's the mystery juror and is NOT an international star by any stretch. He's in a band that sang the National Anthem at a NASCAR event and opened for a couple of country acts in Wisconsin -- nothing outside the U.S.

Mahler says his band, The Rick Raybine Band, has had some small town success but has never released an album.

As for how he was mislabeled ... some reporter said he was an international artist and everyone just took it at face value.

The lawyer who represented Brendan Dassey says he messed up by allowing his client to meet with cops when he wasn't present, and the reason he was a no show is shocking.

Len Kachinsky appeared on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and had a hard time explaining why his PI strong-armed his 16-year-old client into signing a murder confession. He had an even harder time explaining why he then gave his client up to the cops.

"Empire" star Adam Rodriguez thinks Steven Avery, the man at the center of "Making A Murderer" ... should be set free, and President Obama needs to make it happen.

Adam was leaving the gym Monday in Venice when he unloaded on our photog about the Netflix documentary. Adam says you can count him among the 250k people who've signed a Change.org petition asking Obama to give Avery a presidential pardon.

And he thinks it shouldn't stop with Obama. Check out the clip ... you can feel his outrage.

If justice can be bought, "Making A Murderer" convicts Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey are one step closer to getting out of prison.

We've learned the family set up a website soliciting donations to mount a new legal challenge, with the help of the hacker group 'Anonymous,' which created the website Opaverydassey.com.

We're told viewers of the documentary are responding by opening their wallets. So far the family has collected $2,100 through the site and another $1,200 sent to the Avery family home.

The family, we're told, is upset because someone's been setting up fake websites soliciting money, which they believe has discouraged people from contributing. But they're starting to see a steady flow.

Angus T. Jones -- formerly the half in "Two and a Half Men" -- is barely recognizable as his old Jake Harper character on a coffee run Monday afternoon.

Angus has dropped out of acting, but he could definitely pick up a gig on "Duck Dynasty."

Hey, Robertsons ... you looking to adopt?

The man who represented the nephew of "Making A Murderer" defendant Steven Avery is on the hot seat again ... over another deal he cut with a man who says he's innocent.

Attorney Len Kachinsky represented David Reimer in 2009, who was accused of shaking his baby to death. Reimer's mother, Lynn, claims Kachinsky pressured her son to cop a no contest plea to reckless homicide and child abuse. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Lynn claims her son got railroaded by Kachinsky, and that he never even bothered to check out the 2 1/2 month old baby's mother, whom Lynn says was home at the exact time the baby died.

And now the conspiracy claim ... Lynn says she filed a complaint with the State Bar, and all of a sudden cops started showing up at her home and spying on her. She apparently believes cops wanted to close out the case and nail someone, and Kachinsky facilitated that with his own client.

Kachinsky is under fire for his representation of Brendan Dassey, who's serving a life sentence for the murder of Teresa Halbach. According to the documentary, Kachinsky got his PI to force a written confession and then gave cops a heads up to question the 16-year-old without a lawyer present.

We spoke with Kachinsky, who said he and his client agreed the plea was appropriate because Reimer "didn't stand much of a chance in trial." He also says he's not involved in harassing Lynn.

Ken Kratz, the prosecutor who sent "Making a Murderer" defendant Steven Avery to prison for life, says if scientists develop a test showing the incriminating blood came from a vial, he should get a new trial.

Kratz appeared Monday on "TMZ Live," and we asked him about the defense argument that cops took Avery's blood from a vile and planted it at the murder scene. Kratz opened the prison door just a crack.

We also asked him about a shocking comment he made to the jury during closing arguments ... that EVEN if cops did plant evidence, there was plenty of other, legitimate evidence to convict Avery.

"NCIS" star Michael Weatherly will go into the New Year with a clean legal slate ... because his DUI case is over.

Weatherly pled no contest Tuesday to driving with a blood alcohol level over .08 ... and the remaining counts were dismissed.

His sentence ... 3 years probation and a three-month alcohol program (and a MADD program).

He has until June to complete everything.

Olivia d'Abo says her husband derailed her acting career, and now he has to pay.

The 'Wonder Years' star filed docs in her ongoing divorce from Patrick Leonard, saying he pressured and threatened her to curtail her career throughout their marriage.

She says he wanted her to nurture her music career and abandon acting. She says he pressured her into passing on several big roles.

She claims Patrick threatened to divorce her if she took a part in the Broadway revival of "The Odd Couple" with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, because he didn't want her to move to NYC. She took the role anyway.

Olivia claims her acting career never bounced back from her 'Wonder Years' peak and the stress of dealing with his repeated divorce threats took a toll on her health.

Mark Salling's computer not only contained pics of underage children in sexual scenes, some of the children were under 10 years of age ... this according to law enforcement sources.

As we reported, the LAPD's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force seized more than a thousand images from the "Glee" star's desktop computer, and they still have to go through his cellphone, tablet and laptop.

Our sources say some of the images involve girls under 10 engaging in sexual activities.

We're told the cops were "100%" they would find what they were looking for based on an interview with a former girlfriend of Salling's as well as other evidence.

Salling was arrested for possession of child porn ... porn involving minors "engaging in or simulating sexual conduct." The Salling family posted $20,000 bail shortly after his arrest and he was released.

Legendary Browns running back Jim Brown switched to defense Tuesday ... coming to the rescue of Johnny Manziel ... saying his partying ways won't keep him from being great.

Brown appeared on "The Herd" on FS1 ... and when guest host Jason Whitlock turned the topic to Johnny Football ... Jim seriously gushed about the young QB.

Manziel has yet to fully win over the Cleveland fan base ... so an endorsement from the franchise's most celebrated player is a BIG deal.

Al Jazeera is in full panic mode about the Peyton Manning story ... so says Manning's hired gun Ari Fleischer who tells TMZ Sports the news organization appears to be waving the white flag.

Ari tells TMZ Sports, "Their story was not credible to begin with and it’s not credible now," adding, "Al Jazeera is backtracking and retreating."

Fleischer is referring to a "Today" show appearance made by Al Jazeera reporter Deborah Davies Tuesday morning ... where Davies said that the network never asserted Peyton himself ever used HGH.

Peyton's camp believes Al Jazeera is contradicting their story and scrambling to save face.

Manning has been reluctant to say outright whether they'll file suit ... but you have to believe his camp smells blood in the water.

The daughters of a poet claim the folks behind "The Big Bang Theory" pilfered their late mother's poem and didn't pay a penny.

Edith Newlin published the poem in 1937 ... it's called "Warm Kitty." Her daughters Margaret and Ellen say in 2007, Warner Bros. wanted to use the lyrics for a song in the show -- a song the cast sings to Sheldon when he's sick -- which includes the lyrics, "Soft kitty, warm kitty."

Margaret says the studio cut a deal with a music company to use the lyrics, but not her ... and she says she and her sister are the rightful owners.

What's worse ... she says the song is part of 'Big Bang' merchandising.

So the song on 'Big Bang' has been used for years and now she wants the studio and others to ante up. She also wants an order prohibiting the show from continuing to use the song.

We reached out to Warner Bros. ... so far, no word back.

Justin Bieber's career is on fire but there's still one thing he can't do ... kick Nick Jonas' ass ... that's according to Nick's "Kingdom" co-star Frank Grillo who says the JoBro's a total "badass" thanks to his MMA training.

Frank witnessed the transformation Nick went through playing an MMA fighter on their show, so when we got him out in L.A. we had to ask ... is Jonas now the toughest teenybopper alive?

Check out the clip -- Frank must've had Bieber on the brain cause we didn't even mention Justin ... but Grillo seems convinced -- and proud to say -- that Jonas would beat the Biebs to sleep.

Steve Harvey might be the most hated man in Colombia EVER -- after accidentally declaring Miss Colombia the winner of Miss Universe ... and then taking it back!!!

It might be the greatest/saddest moment in the history of beauty pageants ... pay close attention to the look on Miss Colombia's face when Harvey announced his COLOSSAL mistake.

The real winner ... Miss Philippines.

Oops!

Harvey knows he screwed up -- and immediately began apologizing on Twitter.

"I'd like to apologize wholeheartedly to Miss Colombia & Miss Philippines for my huge mistake. I feel terrible."

"Secondly, I'd like to apologize to the viewers at that I disappointed as well. Again it was an honest mistake."

"I don't want to take away from this amazing night and pageant. As well as the wonderful contestants. They were all amazing."

9:12 AM PT: Tyrese came to Harvey's defense on social media saying, "If I was hosting and seen this card...?? With this little ass writing?? I literally would of MADE the SAME MISTAKE!!!!! Steve Harvey, I stand with you."

Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and HBO just got sued for intercepting the idea for their show "Ballers."

According to a lawsuit filed in federal court, Everette Silas and Sherri Littleton say they had the idea for a project called "Off Season" back in 2007.

They claim they were close to a deal in 2009 to work with Wahlberg, Johnson and their manager to develop the project ... but it fell apart when Silas and Littleton insisted their names remain under "Created By" in the credits.

Silas and Littleton claim "Off Season" and "Ballers" share several similarities, including:

-- Both are about football players and their lives off-field
-- Both set in Miami
-- Both center around African-American athletes

That last one doesn't seem so unique -- still, the "Off Season" folks say even the title "Ballers" is ripped from one their episode titles.

Silas and Littleton are seeking unspecified damages.

A rep for HBO tells TMZ, "We are confident the case has no merit."