From the Wrong Side of the Tracks

Growing up in Manitowoc County Wisconsin is like any other small town, you either are known as one of the elite or one of the peasants. Steven Avery was known as a “peasant”. In fact the Avery’s was looked upon as lower life forms in the community. This documentary starts with a family feud and ends in prison.

The documentary is centered around Steven Avery. The makers of this documentary used the beginning of the show to tell the story of his feud with his cousin Sandra Morris. Sandra was married to a county sheriff. It started with her accusing Steven of masturbating in his front yard, then running her off the road. The director implies that since the Sandra was married to a county cop that the county has had it out for Steven since then. So in 1985 when a women by the name of Penny Beernsten was sexualy assaulted and left near dead. When the victim gave her accounts of what happen a Manitowoc County sheriff deputy by the name of Judy Dvorak said “ that sounds like Steven Avery”. This is when it all goes downhill from that. Even though the victim’s description did not match Mr. Avery the police still pursued Avery. Avery was arrested even with an alibi. Steven Avery sat in jail for 18 years. The whole time he continued proclaimed he was innocent.

In 2003 Steven was released from jail due to the aid of the Innocent Project. He was exonerated through the use of DNA for his 1985 attempted murder and sexual assault of Penny Beersteen. During his 18 years in prison he lost a lot beside just his freedom. He told his wife to divorce him and move on with her life. With him now being divorced he also had lost his kids. The one thing he did not lose was the faith of his family. Mr. Avery decides to sue the county for gross negligence. It is found out that Deputy Dvorak, the prosecutor, and other county workers ignored all of the evidence and just went with what Deputy Dvorak said. No one knew that she was a friend of Mrs. Morris, who was the cousin of Steven Avery and had file a complaint against him earlier.

Now it is October 31, 2005. Ms. Teresa Halbach knocked on Steven Avery’s door. She came to take pictures of a van that was to be put in the Auto Trader magazine. This was not Ms. Halbach first time dealing with the Avery’s. She took the pictures and was on her way back home. Teresa never made it back home and was reported missing on November 6, 2005. Steve’s Cousin had a premonition that Manitowoc County was not done with him yet. Was she ever so right. The Manitowoc Sheriff’s officer knocked on Steven door. He was asked question about Halbach and he gave them permission to search the property. At the time nothing was found.

As time goes by the search stretches to the Avery’s salvage yard. Manitowoc Sheriff;s office were asked to not be involved due to conflict of interest. The reason behind the conflict was the Steven Avery was to be awarded 450,000 for his false imprisonment. The lawyers had also filed a $36 million dollar lawsuit in federal court against Manitowoc. The county sheriff’s office did not pay attention to the order and inserted themselves into the investigation. The two cops that was mention in the lawsuit are the two that found 90% of the evidence. Once everything was found on Avery's property things went all haywire real quick.

Steven Avery’s nephew Brendan Dassey. He was taken in to be question. The video for it was shocking. There was no parent, and no lawyer. They even took him out of school to question him. Branden was getting railroaded and the audience could do nothing. This was a kid that anyone could tell was mentally not all there and just wanted to go home. You can see how he struggles to try and make the cops happy. They even threaten to call his mom and tell her that he is a liar. This cops was over the line and they knew it. He had a crooked lawyer that only cared about himself. He allowed Dassey to be questioned without him being present. He also allowed a private investigator in and badger Dassey to confess so he can get a plea deal.

In the end the documentary left the viewers with a family divided. A young man in prison who was not represented properly. Cops who got away with not follow their own rules and a man back in jail who may not have murdered anyone. More information has been coming forward. There some viewers who have contacted the lawyers of Steven because of information that was overlooked. The Halbach family, Prosecutor, and the Manitowoc County declined to talk to the documentary creators. Later after the documentary was complete the prosecutor has stated that the creators left out a lot of evidence. I guess if the would have cooperated then that side of the story would have been told. The Halbach family was upset that Steven Avery seemed to be glamorized in this. The makers of the documentary audience was more what they expected. The audience seemed to be more of sympathizer. The documentary was well put together since the writers were not in it at all. For those that did not want to participate they used footage from previous interviews, depositions and court documents.

Sources

Making a Murderer. Laura Ricciandi and Moira Demos. 2015. Netflix. Web. 10 February 2016 Augenstein, S. (2016). 'Making a murderer' inmate, steven avery, files motions for release. D F I News, Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1777466053?accountid=35812 Mediaite: Steven avery's attorney: 'A big part of me worries that he may be guilty' (2016). . Chatham: Newstex. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1759002001?accountid=35812