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Steven Avery

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This article is about the convict from Wisconsin. For the Major League Baseball pitcher, see Steve Avery. For the American football player, see Steve Avery (American football).

Steven Avery (born July 9, 1962) is an American convict from Manitowoc County, Wisconsin who served 18 years in prison for a sexual assault conviction, but was released when DNA analysis pointed to another man. He was exonerated and released from prison on September 11, 2003.[1] In 2005, he was arrested and later convicted of the murder of photographer Teresa Halbach.[2]

Background

At age 18, Avery pleaded guilty to burglary of a bar and was sentenced to 10 months in prison. When he was 20, Avery and another man pleaded guilty to animal cruelty after pouring gasoline and oil on Avery's cat and throwing it, alive, into a fire; Avery was sentenced to prison again for that crime. In 1985, Avery was charged with assaulting his cousin, the wife of a part-time Manitowoc County sheriff's deputy, possessing a firearm as a felon, and the rape of a Manitowoc woman, Penny Beernsten, for which he was later exonerated. He served six years for assaulting his cousin and illegally possessing firearms, and 18 years for the assault, sexual assault, and attempted rape he did not commit.[3][4]

The Wisconsin Innocence Project took Avery's case and eventually he was exonerated of the rape charge. After his release from prison, Avery filed a $36 million federal lawsuit against Manitowoc County, its former sheriff, Thomas Kocourek, and its former district attorney, Denis Vogel. On October 31, 2005, the same day that Teresa Halbach went missing, state legislators passed the Avery Bill to prevent wrongful convictions. The bill has since been renamed the "criminal justice reforms bill".[5]

Halbach murder

On October 31, 2005, photographer Teresa Halbach was scheduled to meet with Steven Avery at his home on the grounds of Avery's Auto Salvage, to photograph a minivan for Auto Trader Magazine. Halbach was last seen that day.

On November 11, 2005, Avery was charged with the murder of Halbach. Avery protested that authorities were attempting to frame him for Halbach's disappearance to make it harder for him to win his pending civil case regarding the false rape conviction. To avoid a conflict of interest, Mark R. Rohrer, the Manitowoc County district attorney, requested that neighboring Calumet County authorities lead the investigation. Manitowoc County authorities remained involved in the case, leading to accusations of tampering with evidence. Manitowoc County Circuit Court Judge Patrick Willis presided over the trial.

On March 2, 2006, Brendan Dassey, Avery's nephew, was charged with being a party to first-degree intentional homicide, mutilation of a corpse and first-degree sexual assault.[6] However, Dassey's attorneys have since asked for him to be released, or given another trial, on the basis that his constitutional rights were violated due to ineffective assistance of counsel and an involuntary confession.[7]

On March 18, 2007, Avery was found guilty of murdering Halbach, not guilty of mutilating a corpse, and guilty of illegally possessing a firearm. On June 1, 2007, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Halbach. He was also sentenced to 10 years for felony possession of a firearm, to run concurrent with the murder sentence. He is housed at the Waupun Correctional Institution in Waupun, Wisconsin.[8] In August 2011, a state appeals court denied Avery's appeal for a new trial.[9][10]

Media

On March 26, 2013, the public radio program Radiolab aired an episode titled "Reasonable Doubt"[11] which featured a 24-minute segment exploring the story of Steven Avery from the perspective of Penny Beerntsen,[12] the woman he was falsely convicted of sexually assaulting in 1985.

Making a Murderer

Main article: Making a Murderer

On December 18, 2015, Netflix released a documentary series on Avery's story called Making a Murderer.[13] The documentary "examines allegations of police and prosecutorial misconduct, evidence tampering and witness coercion."[14]

On December 20, 2015 a petition was created at petitions.whitehouse.gov titled "Investigate and pardon the Averys in Wisconsin and punish the corrupt officials who railroaded these innocent men".[15]

On December 22, 2015, the Innocence Project issued a statement stating "a member of the Innocence Network is currently looking into some aspects of his case".[16] [17]

See also

References

  1. ^ Steven Avery - The Innocence Project"Steven Avery - The Innocence Project".
  2. ^ Kertscher, Tom. "Avery found guilty of killing woman". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 19 March 2007
  3. ^ Avery's attorney in a Making a Murderer Netflix documentary
  4. ^ Mike Nichols (10 March 2006). "Unjust jail term didn't make a monster". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on n.d. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |archivedate= (help)
  5. ^ "'Avery bill' renamed". Racine Journal Times. 19 November 2005
  6. ^ "Teen sticks to story in interview from Manitowoc jail". gmtoday. April 30, 2007. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  7. ^ Andy Thompson (December 21, 2015). "Dassey seeks release in Halbach murder". Appleton Post-Crescent. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  8. ^ "Wisconsin Department of Corrections Offender Locator". 2 January 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  9. ^ "Steven Avery's appeal denied". 24 August 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  10. ^ "State v. Avery, 2011 WI App 124". Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  11. ^ "RadioLab (Season 11, Episode 5) - Reasonable Doubt". 26 March 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  12. ^ "The Forgiveness Project - Penny Beernsten". 29 March 2010. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  13. ^ "Netflix". Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  14. ^ "Netflix Announces New Original Documentary Series Making a Murderer" (Press release). Netflix. November 9, 2015. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  15. ^ Jefferson Grubbs. "People Want To Help Steven Avery After 'Making A Murderer' Debuts On Netflix". Bustle, December 21, 2015. Accessed December 30, 2015.
  16. ^ "A Note on Steven Avery and the Netflix Series "Making a Murderer"". December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  17. ^ Gilman, Greg. "'Making a Murderer' Sparks Online Petitions Demanding President Obama Free Steven Avery, Brendan Dassey". The Wrap. Retrieved 31 December 2015.

Further reading

  • Griesbach, Michael. The Innocent Killer: A True Story of a Wrongful Conviction. Chicago: American Bar Association, 2014.
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