{"id":2547,"date":"2016-01-14T19:58:17","date_gmt":"2016-01-15T03:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernjournal\/?p=2547"},"modified":"2016-01-14T19:58:17","modified_gmt":"2016-01-15T03:58:17","slug":"netflix-and-kill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/netflix-and-kill\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix and kill"},"content":{"rendered":"
By: Conner Williams \r\nEditor in Chief <\/pre>\n
If you\u2019ve ever had a run in with the law, I sure hope it wasn\u2019t in the state of Wisconsin, because you\u2019d likely be reading this from a jail cell where you\u2019re stuck for a crime you didn\u2019t commit. <\/p>\n
Over the holiday break, Netflix released a documentary show entitled \u201cMaking a Murderer\u201d that sparked countless conversations around the web centered on the current state of the criminal justice system. <\/p>\n
The documentary, which was filmed over the course of ten years, followed a Wisconsin man named Steven Avery and his experiences with the law enforcement agencies in and surrounding the area of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. <\/p>\n
Avery was convicted of sexual assault, attempted murder, and false imprisonment back in 1985 and served 18 years of his life in prison. That\u2019s a good thing, right?<\/p>\n
Well, it would be if he actually committed those crimes. Avery had to wait until technology advanced enough to the point when he could be proven innocent by the presence of DNA from another individual. <\/p>\n
So, he was acquitted after spending nearly two decades in prison for a crime he didn\u2019t commit. This didn\u2019t make Steven too happy, and so he sued the department that put him in prison for $36 million. As it so happens, that didn\u2019t make that department too happy either, so what happened next became the inspiration for the widely popular Netflix documentary. <\/p>\n
Two years after Avery was released from prison, he found himself back on the radar of his favorite law enforcement officers. This time, however, it was for a crime much more severe: murder. <\/p>\n
Teresa Halbach worked for Auto Trader magazine and traveled to Avery\u2019s property on Oct. 31, 2005 to shoot some photos of a van for an assignment. <\/p>\n
Her vehicle and charred bone fragments were found on the property about a week later, and you can bet that Steven Avery was the first one the police had their eyes on.<\/p>\n
The Manitowoc County district attorney requested that the neighboring authorities from Calumet County lead the investigation to avoid a conflict of interest. Great, that should even things out, no?<\/p>\n
Wrong again. During the week long search of Avery\u2019s trailer, authorities found nothing until a few days into the search, conveniently when Manitowoc officials were on scene helping. Yes, the very same department that mistakenly put Avery in prison for two decades was allowed to participate in the investigation. <\/p>\n
Coincidentally enough, on the very same day that the Manitowoc officials showed up, a crucial piece of evidence was found \u201cin plain sight\u201d in Avery\u2019s bedroom: the key to Halbach\u2019s vehicle. That was the break investigators needed, and they arrested Avery shortly after. It\u2019s interesting how the most valuable piece of evidence that was \u201cin plain sight\u201d wasn\u2019t found until days into the search, and by a Manitowoc official to boot. What\u2019s the word for that feeling again \u2026 Ah, yes: suspicious. <\/p>\n
To make things even more interesting, Avery\u2019s learning-disabled nephew, 16-year-old Brendan Dassey was then interrogated by police \u2013 Manitowoc County police \u2013 at school. Here\u2019s where things get really unethical. Dassey spent multiple hours being interrogated by police investigators with neither a parent nor a lawyer present. <\/p>\n
So what did Dassey say? Only exactly what the police needed him to in order to fit the narrative they had chosen to follow. <\/p>\n
Dassey confessed to having helped Avery murder, mutilate, and burn the body of Halbach. It\u2019s too bad the confession didn\u2019t actually match up with any of the (nonexistent) evidence in the trailer, but we already know that evidence is an overrated concept to Manitowoc County investigators. What sort of people that are supposed to be the forefront of justice interrogate a learning-disabled minor for hours without a parent present? Cowards, that\u2019s who. <\/p>\n
And so ensued the lengthy investigation that eventually landed Avery and Dassey life sentences: Avery without chance for early release, and Dassey with a possible early release date in 2048.
\nNever mind the overwhelming evidence that basically projects police tampering on the big screen; the court believes they got the right guys. <\/p>\n
Never mind the fact that the lead prosecutor in both cases was later fired and publicly embarrassed for having been involved in several sexting scandals when he wrote sexually explicit messages to domestic violence victims. Nothing but the cream of the crop when it comes to Wisconsin criminal justice officials. <\/p>\n
The thing that really gets to me about this case though is the amount of media coverage that occurred and how it had a direct impact on the juries. There was basically zero presumption of innocence in either Avery or Dassey\u2019s cases, which led to predetermined biases from the juries and probably directly contributed to the guilty verdicts that were handed down. <\/p>\n
Think about it: these guys\u2019 pictures were all over every media outlet in the country for a significant period of time. What do you think that does to people watching? It makes them think they are already guilty. So much for a fair trial and being innocent until proven guilty. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you\u2019ve ever had a run in with the law, I sure hope it wasn\u2019t in the state of Wisconsin, because you\u2019d likely be reading this from a jail cell where you\u2019re stuck for a crime you didn\u2019t commit. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":825,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/825"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2547\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}