Making a Murderer … or not

Netflix’s new big hit, the true crime documentary “Making a Murderer,” has everyone absolutely obsessed. The 10-episode series follows the life of Steven Avery after he was exonerated from prison for being wrongly convicted of sexual assault. Two years later, Avery goes back to prison, except this time it is for murder.

After filing a lawsuit against Manitowoc County in Wisconsin for wrongful imprisonment, Avery was subsequently arrested for the murder of local photographer Teresa Halbach.

The documentary includes interviews with Avery’s family and lawyers as well as television footage from the time of the trail in 2006. After watching the entire series, I was left absolutely dumbfounded as to how on earth the jury let this injustice happen to one man twice in his lifetime.

Many people agree with Avery’s expert defense lawyers and have spoken out about their feelings on Avery’s innocence. Since the documentary aired, Avery’s prosecuting attorney, Ken Kratz, has received a large amount of criticism and hate for his misconduct surrounding the trial.

Kratz spoke publicly about the confession of Brendan Dassey, Avery’s learning-disabled nephew, who admitted to raping and killing Halbach with the help of his uncle. Dassey later recanted this confession many times and claimed that the officers who interrogated him pushed him into making a false confession.

Kratz is sticking to his guns, saying the documentary was a “one-sided view” of the trial and does not fairly portray him or the stacks of evidence he used to convict Avery.

“Steven Avery committed this murder and this mutilation, and Steven Avery is exactly where he needs to be,” Kratz said. “And I don’t have any qualms about that, nor do I lose any sleep over that.”

However, there is no denying this guy seriously did not do his job properly when it came to holding a fair trial. I still do not believe the documentary was as one-sided as Kratz claims it is. The documentary really made me doubt the justice system, which makes me less likely to think Avery is guilty.

There have been multiple petitions to free Avery since the release of the documentary, all garnering thousands of signatures. Accumulating over 100,000 signatures, one petition called for President Obama’s attention to the case, without taking into account the president cannot pardon a state crime.

Although Obama cannot help him, Avery’s new attorneys think they might be able to. Lawyers Kathleen Zellner and Trisha Bushnell have filed motions claiming that Avery was denied a fair trial. They claim to have new evidence that will exonerate Avery even though the odds are now stacked against him.

“We are confident Mr. Avery’s conviction will be vacated when we present the new evidence and results of our work to the appropriate court,” Zellner said.

After watching “Making a Murderer,” I really believe that Teresa Halbach’s murderer is still on the loose. I am anxious to see if Avery will be exonerated for a second time or if this time there is no escaping injustice for him and his family.