How Steven Avery Was Exonerated in 2003

¶ … Wrongful Conviction of Steven Avery Steven Avery was arrested in 1985 for the rape of Penny Beernsten, even though his family testified as to his whereabouts at the exact moment the crime took place. 18 years later, Avery was exonerated via DNA evidence, in which a hair from the crime scene was matched to Gregory Allen (who was actually suspected of committing the crime at the time but whom law enforcement agents neglected to pursue because of an apparent vendetta they had against Avery and their desire to see him behind bars).

Manitowoc County District Attorney Denis Vogel was particularly complicit in this wrongful conviction (Griesbach, 2011; Messer, 2016). Avery and his family had gotten under the skin of authorities in their neighborhood. Avery himself had a record of reckless and mildly deviant behavior. However, his big mistake was offending his cousin, who also happened to be the wife of a police officer.

A portion of the law enforcement community, including the DA, then set about indicting and prosecuting Avery for a rape, even when other members of the same law enforcement community easily identified the real culprit (Allen) at the time. Their work was dismissed because the police and prosecutor decided ahead of time that this was their opportunity to put Avery away (Messer, 2016). His wrongful conviction was based on the "eyewitness" testimony of Penny Beernstein, who was led to believe that Avery had raped her by the police.

There was no real evidence linking him to the crime. Instead, his reputation as a trouble maker was used to make him look like someone who would do such a thing. This was enough for the jury of his peers to find him guilty and send him to prison. Avery was eventually exonerated with the help of the Innocence Project and the determination of a few individuals, such as Avery's lawyers, friends, family, and journalists.

The process towards his exoneration including using DNA evidence which had not been something that was available (due to technology) at the time of his trial. Now that it was possible, the steps were taken to submit this as new evidence before the court, and the evidence showed that the DNA that was found on Penny following the assault belonged to Gregory Allen (the original suspect) and not Steven Avery. Avery was not compensated upon his release in 2003. On the contrary, he had to sue for compensation (Ricciardi, Demos, 2015).

Incredibly, this upset the same members of the law enforcement community (Vogel was now retired) who still bore Avery a grudge, and as the Netflix documentary Making a Murderer by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos shows, Avery was targeted again by police and charged with the murder of Teresa Halbach in 2005. Avery and his nephew were charged and convicted of Halbach's killing, even though once more the evidence against them was scant and unpersuasive (the jury thought otherwise, apparently).

Today, Avery is in jail for the murder of Halbach, but as the documentary shows, this appears to be yet another wrongful conviction for Steven Avery. Time will tell if this.