Post by Scumhunter on Jan 9, 2016 9:03:51 GMT -5
Ok, since this story is getting so much attention I figured I'd make it on it's own thread. The 10-part documentary series on Netflix, 'Making A Murderer' about a man named Steven Avery who many believe was wrongfully imprisoned (as well as a nephew of his named Brendan Dassey), as multiple petitioners have accused the local Sheriff's Department (Manitowoc County, Wisconsin) of planting evidence. I'll summarize the case as I best I can from articles and having watched the series (I'll explain my thoughts later)- but a note that this summary does contain spoilers for those who haven't watched the series. (Here's also an article somewhat summarizing the case: www.vox.com/2016/1/8/10734268/netflix-making-a-murderer-avery)
In the first case, in 1985, Avery was accused of trying to rape and kill a woman named Penny Beerntsen, after she identified him as her attacker. DNA evidence later exonerated him. But there were several mistakes in the investigation. Most notably, police seemed to overlook Gregory Allen, a man who was deemed so dangerous that he was under constant surveillance — except on the day Beerntsen was attacked — and was later convicted of a sexual assault, for which he's still serving time. (Avery tried to drive his cousin- a wife of a Manitowoc County Sheriff's Deputy off the road- and it's alleged the Department had in for him because of that). Eventually after the innocence project took the case, the DNA was proved to be Allen's and not Avery's and he was released in 2001.
Then in 2007, Avery was convicted of allegedly killing Teresa Halbach, a photographer who regularly took pictures at the Avery family's junkyard and was last reportedly seen alive by Avery. The prosecution, led by Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz, relied on several pieces of evidence for this second conviction: Halbach's SUV was found hidden on the Avery family's property, the SUV had Avery's blood in it, a bullet with Halbach's DNA was found in Avery's garage, and Halbach's spare SUV keys were found in Avery's trailer, among other clues.
However, the murder of Teresa Halbach happened just 2 weeks before Avery was set to sue to Manitowoc Sheriff's Department for 36 million dollars. The key found in Avery's trailer was found on the 7th search, only after Manitowoc County Officials had searched it. (The Calumet County, Wisconsin Sheriff's Department had previously conducted the searches). It's alleged Halbach was killed in Avery's trailer or garage but there was no blood spatter evidence.
Still, the most controversial part of the documentary was Avery's co-defendant, a teenage boy named Brendan Dassey, who confessed to Detectives about helping kill Halbach only to later say to his mom after the interview on the same day that the Detectives "got to his head" and asked what if he was saying wasn't true. Dassey had only about a 70 IQ and was in special education classes and many people feel he was just saying what police wanted him to say. In addition, his first defense attorney, Len kachinsky, instead of defending him, tried his best to get Dassey to confess again, sending him to an investigator to write a statement. Later documents in the series show Kachinsky wanted to help the prosecution in their case against Avery/
Anyway- here's my thoughts- This forum supports law enforcement. However, I'm not naive enough to think a small town Sheriff's Department can't frame a guy for murder- and I'm sure it's happened before. At the same time, I'm still not entirely convinced that Avery is innocent. The documentary basically focused on the defense's side and left a lot of key evidence out (The filmmakers claim the prosecutor, Ken Kratz was asked to participate, Kratz denied it): www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/evidence-s-missing-making-murderer-article-1.2485213
As mentioned, Avery has a history of not being a nice guy. In 1981, he allegedly doused the family cat in gasoline and threw it into a fire. He tried to run his cousin off the road. He threatened to kill his ex-wife while in jail for the wrongful rape conviction. Halbach was allegedly creeped out by Avery. In other words, while it doesn't excuse it if he is wrongfully imprisoned, there have been much nicer guys than Avery that have been wrongfully imprisoned (IF he is). Quite frankly I wanted to stop watching 'Making A Murderer' after I learned he killed the family cat as I absolutely HATE people who harm animals, but wanting to be fair, and on the chance that a killer could still be out there in regards to the Halbach case, I continued watching. But I don't think it would be unfair to say that even if Avery is innocent, he's still not a guy you'd want living next door to you.
Brendan Dassey on the other hand did have a more questionable prosecution. Only the confession part the first day and not the part where he tells his mother they got to his head was allowed at trial. Kachinsky later had Dassey with Detectives again after his "second" confession without him or a parent present. That's usually a big issue at trials. If I'm a homicide Sergeant, and my suspect is a teenager, I am making sure an adult- be it a parent or lawyer is in the room with him because it could jeopardize the case later on in the court system. A Judge could theoretically even throw out the interview as evidence because of that factor(It didn't in this case, but nevertheless).
At the same time, the Avery trial seemed to be a circus on a local level and although a different county, it was still held in the same state. One juror who had a family emergency during deliberation time and had to be removed said he would have voted not guilty. He also said some people seemed predetermined to vote guilty and two jurors were related to people in the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department (this was known before trial, however). The case was so well known it does seem Avery was convicted in the media. And despite the two jurors being forthcoming, the Sheriff's Department ties are still a potential conflict of interest. (I guess the county was so small or it was so hard finding jurors who didn't know about the case to have a truly "unaware" jury). In addition, the fact he was wrongfully convicted once before does perhaps make it even more important to make sure the murder verdict is right. So while there's no way in hell I'd actually pardon or release Avery like many people are calling for, I wouldn't be opposed to a new trial in a new state to finally say guilty or not for good.
Brendan Dassey on the other hand, in my opinion, has a much better case for a re-trial. A defense attorney is supposed to defend and Kachinsky basically convicted his own client. A defense attorney wanting to help the prosecution is unheard of. I understand one can make the argument Kachinsky was only trying to help Dassey get a lesser sentence by confessing, but when Dassey kept trying to tell him he was innocent and he sent him to an investigator to get a confession anyway, that's not good. All the stuff about "they got to my head" was not allowed at trial.
So while I'm still on the fence about Avery, and quite frankly, I really don't like the guy even if by some chance he's innocent, I would support a re-trial for Dassey. (And while not as enthusiastically, I do support a re-trial for Avery as well).
Anyway, did anyone else watch, and what are your opinions on this case?
In the first case, in 1985, Avery was accused of trying to rape and kill a woman named Penny Beerntsen, after she identified him as her attacker. DNA evidence later exonerated him. But there were several mistakes in the investigation. Most notably, police seemed to overlook Gregory Allen, a man who was deemed so dangerous that he was under constant surveillance — except on the day Beerntsen was attacked — and was later convicted of a sexual assault, for which he's still serving time. (Avery tried to drive his cousin- a wife of a Manitowoc County Sheriff's Deputy off the road- and it's alleged the Department had in for him because of that). Eventually after the innocence project took the case, the DNA was proved to be Allen's and not Avery's and he was released in 2001.
Then in 2007, Avery was convicted of allegedly killing Teresa Halbach, a photographer who regularly took pictures at the Avery family's junkyard and was last reportedly seen alive by Avery. The prosecution, led by Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz, relied on several pieces of evidence for this second conviction: Halbach's SUV was found hidden on the Avery family's property, the SUV had Avery's blood in it, a bullet with Halbach's DNA was found in Avery's garage, and Halbach's spare SUV keys were found in Avery's trailer, among other clues.
However, the murder of Teresa Halbach happened just 2 weeks before Avery was set to sue to Manitowoc Sheriff's Department for 36 million dollars. The key found in Avery's trailer was found on the 7th search, only after Manitowoc County Officials had searched it. (The Calumet County, Wisconsin Sheriff's Department had previously conducted the searches). It's alleged Halbach was killed in Avery's trailer or garage but there was no blood spatter evidence.
Still, the most controversial part of the documentary was Avery's co-defendant, a teenage boy named Brendan Dassey, who confessed to Detectives about helping kill Halbach only to later say to his mom after the interview on the same day that the Detectives "got to his head" and asked what if he was saying wasn't true. Dassey had only about a 70 IQ and was in special education classes and many people feel he was just saying what police wanted him to say. In addition, his first defense attorney, Len kachinsky, instead of defending him, tried his best to get Dassey to confess again, sending him to an investigator to write a statement. Later documents in the series show Kachinsky wanted to help the prosecution in their case against Avery/
Anyway- here's my thoughts- This forum supports law enforcement. However, I'm not naive enough to think a small town Sheriff's Department can't frame a guy for murder- and I'm sure it's happened before. At the same time, I'm still not entirely convinced that Avery is innocent. The documentary basically focused on the defense's side and left a lot of key evidence out (The filmmakers claim the prosecutor, Ken Kratz was asked to participate, Kratz denied it): www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/evidence-s-missing-making-murderer-article-1.2485213
As mentioned, Avery has a history of not being a nice guy. In 1981, he allegedly doused the family cat in gasoline and threw it into a fire. He tried to run his cousin off the road. He threatened to kill his ex-wife while in jail for the wrongful rape conviction. Halbach was allegedly creeped out by Avery. In other words, while it doesn't excuse it if he is wrongfully imprisoned, there have been much nicer guys than Avery that have been wrongfully imprisoned (IF he is). Quite frankly I wanted to stop watching 'Making A Murderer' after I learned he killed the family cat as I absolutely HATE people who harm animals, but wanting to be fair, and on the chance that a killer could still be out there in regards to the Halbach case, I continued watching. But I don't think it would be unfair to say that even if Avery is innocent, he's still not a guy you'd want living next door to you.
Brendan Dassey on the other hand did have a more questionable prosecution. Only the confession part the first day and not the part where he tells his mother they got to his head was allowed at trial. Kachinsky later had Dassey with Detectives again after his "second" confession without him or a parent present. That's usually a big issue at trials. If I'm a homicide Sergeant, and my suspect is a teenager, I am making sure an adult- be it a parent or lawyer is in the room with him because it could jeopardize the case later on in the court system. A Judge could theoretically even throw out the interview as evidence because of that factor(It didn't in this case, but nevertheless).
At the same time, the Avery trial seemed to be a circus on a local level and although a different county, it was still held in the same state. One juror who had a family emergency during deliberation time and had to be removed said he would have voted not guilty. He also said some people seemed predetermined to vote guilty and two jurors were related to people in the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department (this was known before trial, however). The case was so well known it does seem Avery was convicted in the media. And despite the two jurors being forthcoming, the Sheriff's Department ties are still a potential conflict of interest. (I guess the county was so small or it was so hard finding jurors who didn't know about the case to have a truly "unaware" jury). In addition, the fact he was wrongfully convicted once before does perhaps make it even more important to make sure the murder verdict is right. So while there's no way in hell I'd actually pardon or release Avery like many people are calling for, I wouldn't be opposed to a new trial in a new state to finally say guilty or not for good.
Brendan Dassey on the other hand, in my opinion, has a much better case for a re-trial. A defense attorney is supposed to defend and Kachinsky basically convicted his own client. A defense attorney wanting to help the prosecution is unheard of. I understand one can make the argument Kachinsky was only trying to help Dassey get a lesser sentence by confessing, but when Dassey kept trying to tell him he was innocent and he sent him to an investigator to get a confession anyway, that's not good. All the stuff about "they got to my head" was not allowed at trial.
So while I'm still on the fence about Avery, and quite frankly, I really don't like the guy even if by some chance he's innocent, I would support a re-trial for Dassey. (And while not as enthusiastically, I do support a re-trial for Avery as well).
Anyway, did anyone else watch, and what are your opinions on this case?
