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How easy would it be for the state to convict you of a crime that you did not commit? How much can an innocent man withstand when faced with the full, soul-crushing might of the US criminal-justice system?
These are the lingering questions that will echo in viewers’ minds after watching Netflix’s new documentary series Making a Murderer.
Wrongfully Accused
The 10-hour, 10-episode series tells the story of Steven Avery — a Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, native — who spent 18 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of sexual assault and attempted murder in 1985. In 2003, newly discovered DNA evidence exonerated Avery, to the dismay and embarrassment of the Manitowoc County Sherriff’s Department.
Once freed, Avery became something of a local celebrity, and drew the attention of then Governor Jim Doyle, state congressmen, and the Wisconsin Innocence Project. In search of restitution for being wrongfully denied of his liberty for 18 years of his life, Avery filed a civil lawsuit in the amount of US$36 million against Manitowoc County.
However, in 2005, shortly after his lawyers took depositions from several high-ranking police officers involved in his 1985 case, Avery once again found himself in the crosshairs of the Sherriff’s Department.
Teresa Halbach, a local photographer for Auto Trader magazine, went missing on October 31, 2005, just days after the policemen were deposed. The Avery family owned the local auto salvage yard, and Halbach had been sent on assignment to photograph Steven’s car. Steven is allegedly the last person to see Teresa alive, and the police quickly set their sights on the man who had just recently exposed their own wrongdoing and negligence. “Do we have him in custody?” a Manitowoc County policeman can be heard asking over the police radio, before a body is even found.
What unfolds next is a true-crime thriller containing a whirlwind of information that I could not begin to condense in this short space. Through archival footage, news clips, and interviews, Laura Ricciardi and the Moira Demos, the makers of the film, take viewers on a decade-long journey of Avery’s arrest and trial.
Reasonable Doubt
Initially, the evidence the state presents against Avery seems overwhelming: Halbach’s charred remains in his backyard, his blood in her Toyota RAV4, and the key to her car found in his bedroom.
Avery’s lawyers, Dean Strang and Jerry Buting, adopt a somewhat unorthodox and highly controversial defense. Rather than challenging the veracity of the state’s claims, they argue what they believe is the truth: vengeful police planted the evidence, including Steven’s blood, to which they had access in vials from his previous arrest. Manitowoc County stole 18 years from Steven Avery when he was just 22 years old, and here they are trying to screw him over again.
It was a tough sell, but the evidence Avery’s defense presents to support its case will shock you — and if you’re anything like me, each revelation will have your blood boiling. By most accounts, the film has succeeded in convincing the majority of its viewers, myself included, that the state likely framed Steven Avery for the murder of Teresa Halbach.
The House Always Wins
It’s a chilling conclusion, when we consider the implications. While the particular circumstances of Steven Avery’s case may be unique, injustice in the US court system certainly is not. Making a Murderer forces viewers to confront the cold reality that the state does, in fact, play dirty — and does so often — in order to secure a conviction. If police are convinced that they “have their man,” then the ends justify the means, and all tactics are on the table.
Throughout the film, one gets the sense that whether the accused is actually guilty or innocent is more of a concern for the trial’s observers — the general public and the media — than it is for any of the state’s agents inside the courtroom. The entire ordeal is an onslaught against the defendant, and it is a process that is designed to work against ordinary citizens, especially those without abundant financial means.
The court-appointed lawyers depicted in the film, for example, are a joke. Len Kachinsky, the appointed lawyer for Steven’s co-defendant and nephew Brendan Dassey, is a caricature of incompetence. Worse still, he is eventually exposed to have aided the prosecution to convict his client, despite Dassey’s insistence that he was innocent.
It’s a rigged game, and one that even the most ardent, boot-licking statist with rosy, picturesque views of the criminal-justice system is compelled to face down at the conclusion of this film.
Going Forward
The viewer response to Making a Murderer has been incredible, and a testament to the “plugged-in,” binge-watching, social-media age that we live in. It’s no surprise that most viewers make it through the 10-hour film in relatively short order, and are then spurred to spend many more hours reading updates on the case. The story is intense, and the filmmakers do a masterful job at creating compelling hour-long episodes that each conclude in a dramatic cliffhanger, tailor-made for a Netflix audience.
Only a few weeks after the documentary’s release, the film has already elicited numerous petitions for Avery’s release, each with hundreds of thousands of signatures; a response from the White House; assurances from Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker that Avery “will never be pardoned”; and tirades from Nancy Grace.
Most interesting of all, “internet detectives” on Reddit discovered a new piece of evidence that previously went overlooked within a photograph of Teresa Halbach shown in the film, and Avery’s attorneys say the finding could actually help him get a new trial.
Despite the almost shattering degree of hopelessness the film’s conclusion imparts on its viewers, it is this last bit of news that gives me some sense of optimism. It demonstrates that there is potential still for individuals — when informed, committed, and gathered in a common cause for truth — to have a fighting chance against the hulking behemoth of state power.
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