Sunday, May 07, 2006

The Steven Avery Case

The Steven Avery case in Wisconsin has made things tough for everyone in the Midwest with innocence claims. I received an average of 35 verbally abusive, bordering-on-hysterical e-mails each day for the past week (since the nephew’s “confession”) at Truth in Justice from idiots who think we had something to do with Avery’s exoneration for a rape he did not commit. The “thinking” (I use quotation marks because these people are doing precious little thinking) is that he should have stayed in prison even though he was innocent because then Teresa Halbach would still be alive.

Well, I don’t think Teresa Halbach is dead. I think she ditched and headed way out of town, probably Canada. She had help from at least one person, whoever drove her car out to Avery’s junk yard and left it there, and I expect the key was left in the ignition. They didn’t “find” it in Avery’s dresser drawer with his DNA on it, nor did they find Avery’s blood in Teresa’s car, until after they took blood from Avery. Who carries just an ignition key, not even on a ring? She took the other keys with her, or gave them to the person who helped her run off. I don’t think Teresa in her wildest dreams thought something like this would happen, and once the ball started rolling, she didn’t dare come back. Remember how everyone turned on the “runaway bride” last year when she came back? They were preparing to present a murder charge against her fiancĂ© to the grand jury! When she turned up, they charged her with felonies for lying to police about what happened to her.

The crime lab and FBI have not said that the DNA of tooth and bone fragments in the burn pit match Teresa’s DNA. They said it’s “consistent with” Teresa’s DNA. “Consistent with” is a junk science red flag. DNA from a dog or a cow would be “consistent with” DNA from a human because they are all mammals. “Consistent with” is not the same as “match” and they use the “consistent with” term to deliberately mislead because most people don’t understand the difference. Now, if Teresa had gone down in a terrible airplane crash, you can bet they’d be all over her hair brush, her tooth brush, the shower drain and such for her DNA, and she wouldn’t be declared dead until they made a match with whatever burned fragments they found. No, she isn’t dead.

And his nephew Brendan Dassey’s story is utter poppycock elicited from a kid who’s developmentally disabled and trying to tell the cops what he thinks they want to hear. It is not consistent with the evidence. If you stab someone in the abdomen and cut her throat, you’ll have to dispose of a lot more than the sheets. And just think about trying to strangle someone—for 2 to 3 minutes yet—after you’ve cut her throat. My God, you’d be covered in blood head to toe. It would be everywhere, especially in a trailer. And then, covered in blood, you carry someone who’s gushing blood through the trailer and out to a garage, without leaving a trail. You then shoot her 10 times with a .22 rifle, come back and clean up the mess (which apparently is only in the garage) with gasoline and bleach, but you leave the shells where they fell. Sure. His “confession” is straight out of “Grand Theft Auto,” a violent video game that includes shackling a prostitute begging for mercy. He threw in the story line of the zombie movie “Land of the Dead” with the baloney about how she wouldn’t die so they had to use all those methods to kill her. It doesn’t take much to figure out the sources for this story. Apparently the cops don’t stay up to date on adolescent entertainment. Neither does the frighteningly ignorant general public.

Now they’ve added charges based on the statements of prison snitches stepping on one another to get a deal for themselves, claiming that Avery was already planning to commit a crime like this while he was in prison (like he knew all along he’d get out short of Mandatory Release), and that Avery bought handcuffs three weeks after he got out. That would have been when he was living in an ice shack. Yes, Avery lived in an ice shack for the first six months after his release. The lawyers at the innocence project found out and got someone to donate the trailer so he’d have something better than a shanty to live in.

This is how they do it. What do I think will happen next? Avery and his nephew will be convicted on absolutely every charge the Calumet County DA can concoct. Hell, they have already been convicted. Hopefully, the Department of Corrections won’t toss them into the general population, because they’d be killed. That would make it even worse when Teresa is finally “outed” as alive and well and living someplace like Vancouver. Because, yes, I think she will eventually be found, but she won’t come forward voluntarily—someone who knows her will spot her, or she’ll make contact with family and be discovered that way.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

This was a fantastic article. It needs to be made public how scary it is that prosecutors would rather put innocent people away as opposed to finding out who the real criminal is. My significant other is going through a wrongful conviction right now. The lead detective only had one year experience prior to the case and during the trial, he lied repeatedly on the stand. How can we prove that he lied?

Unknown said...

I'm not proud to be an american anymore. This country has a blatent disregard for its citizens. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure this Steven Avery case out. Those cops killed that woman, period! and framed him for it. Corporate america is destroying all the things we average americans hold dear. We've been lied to every since I was born and before. And Steve can thank the corpoate bought media,,, which is all of it,! I refuse to watch the news of any sort anymore. they are the ones who are turning america into a three ring circus.

Anonymous said...

The jury in this case apparently were totally ignorant and obviously did not pay attention to the evidence that was presented during
the trial. This is a glaring example of what the American judicial system has become. This is also a glaring example of the power that the very people WE pay to "police" US has been turned against us! Everyone who participated in the unjust conviction of Steve Avery BOTH times should be very ashamed of what they have done. It is shameful that there are people in this world who would rather destroy a human beings life because he doesn't live up to their standards ( someone who isn't quite as smart or live in a nice clean house and behave the way they expect them to).The so called officials who were instrumental in destroying Mr. Avery's life will have to answer for their actions one day. Karma is as they say ..........!!!!!

Truth in Justice Files said...

Have you watched the Netflix documentary series on this case? I intend to, but I think I will have to take it in small doses -- too awful.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this. The judges, prosecutors and detectives involved in these cases conspired to railroad this family TWICE!

Anonymous said...

The Jury was not ignorant thru the last trial. The vote was originally 7 innocence 3 guilty and 2 undecided. However, I do think the 7 Jurors who voted innocent are cowards! They should have stuck to their wits and defended his constitutional rights. Those two detectives that were in deposition just 3 weeks earlier (regarding Steven's Civil Case) should NEVER had been allowed at this crime scene. I find it insane that they never took photos or casts of the footprints surrounding the fire pit, No evidence of blood or bleach was found in the bed room. If someone was stabbed or her throat cut in a small bedroom as Steven's was, there would of definitely been signs of blood or a struggle. They had to search the property how many times before something showed up and why did the officer, who stated on the stand in the last trial, " I moved and shook and twisted and turned over that little cabinet hard". Why would he concentrate on that one piece of furniture? Something needs to be done! I know there were a lot of things the public did not hear while watching the documentary "Making a Murder" however, there are just too many holes in the evidence. A Jury's JOB is to find them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt period! Justice just has not been served for Steven Avery and Brendan Dussay! That poor boy was definitely used as a pawn! Shame on them! However, Shame on Brendan for injecting himself into the trial. There is definitely more to this story!

Anonymous said...

I don't believe Steven Avery is guilty, but even if he was, the evidence is not there to prove it. My stand is this, if your guilty and it is proven beyond a reasonable doubt, my vote would be guilty. But, if sufficient doubt is there my vote would be innocent. I would rather accidentally set a guilty man free than put an innocent man behind bars. Justice is not served by incarcerating an innocent man.

Anonymous said...

I just watched episode 4 and at 31 mins into the documentary there is a photo with a desk and an end table right by the desk, the end table has a can of what looks like air freshener, a remote control and some papers. Now fast forward frame by frame and you will now see the end of the desk with the air freshener now sitting on the top of the desk and no end table present and clearly no key and a pair of house slippers. Now fast forward to the very next frame and in that photo you will see the end table is present with the remote control sitting on top of it and the slippers not laying as before and a key present. If these photos are time stamped and they very well should be these need to be looked at, the answer to freeing these two men are in those photos and should be looked at by professionals.

Truth in Justice Files said...

Thank you for your observations and comments. I have forwarded them to Kathleen Zellner, Mr. Avery's attorney.