Verified Document

How Steven Avery Was Exonerated In 2003 Term Paper

¶ … 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...

Parts of this document are hidden

View Full Document
svg-one

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…

Sources used in this document:
References

Griesbach, M. (2011). The wronged guy. Isthmus. Retrieved from http://isthmus.com/news/news/a-new-book-revisits-steven-averys-conviction-for-a-crime-he-didnt-commit/

Messer, L. (2016). 5 Things to Know about Steven Avery from 'Making a Murderer'.

ABCNews. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/things-steven-avery-making-murderer/story?id=36090236

Ricciardi, L., Demos, M. (2015). Making a Murderer. Netflix.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Wrongful Conviction Review: Henry James Wrongful Convictions
Words: 3867 Length: 10 Document Type: Case Study

Wrongful Conviction Review: Henry James Wrongful convictions are convictions where "factually innocent people are convicted of crimes" (Acker & Redlich, 2011, p.3). There are a number of ways that wrongful convictions can occur. Two of these ways are no crime convictions and wrong man convictions (Acker & Reclich, 2011, p.7-8). No crime convictions occur when someone is convicted of a crime, generally murder, and then it is later discovered that no

Wrongful Conviction of James Henry James Was
Words: 3767 Length: 12 Document Type: Essay

Wrongful Conviction of James Henry Henry James was only 19 years during his conviction for rape that he did not commit. It is after thirty years imprisonment that the realization of his innocence emerges thereby keeping it free. This case is a good example of the importance of evidence in the proceedings of a case. The imprisonment of the innocent man arose because of the little evidence that he had against

Wrongful Convictions Within the Past
Words: 2640 Length: 7 Document Type: Term Paper

The over-enthusiasm associated with the extensive and unrestrained caution which the prosecutors avail gives birth to the settings in which a prosecutor is able to cause the conviction of an innocent individual. Besides, the mixture of over-enthusiasm and unimpeded discretion on one side and regular non-adversarialness on the other outcomes in an irregular playing field in majority of the defendants either guilty or innocent. (Griffin, 1274) The apparent cases of

Wrongful Convictions Ioachimescu the English
Words: 580 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

Why would somebody confess to a crime they did not commit? According to professor Kassin, Saul, there are several types of people who falsely confess: compulsive type-attention seeker -- confesses to gain a piece of the fame, impress others, or to get attention compulsive type-homeless -- confesses as a way to get off the streets compulsive type-fugitive -- confesses to avoid being prosecuted for a crime elsewhere with stiffer penalties compulsive

Wrongful Convictions Based on Eyewitness Accounts Imagine
Words: 920 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Wrongful Convictions Based on Eyewitness Accounts Imagine if you will this hypothetical scenario -- you are walking to your car in a parking garage after a long day at work. You are tired and thinking of what is waiting for you on your desk tomorrow and what you will have to eat when you get home. Suddenly, a man jumps out from behind a parked car and points a gun at

Wrongful Convictions Why Is the
Words: 2268 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

(iv) misconduct by the police or unintentional mistake, together with the application of suggestive identification procedures, pressuring of a confession or inculpatory declaration by a suspect, not carrying out other channels of investigation following initial detection of a powerful suspect, and being unsuccessful to give the prosecutor enough proof which is able to point to an individual other than the defendant as the person behind the act. (v) Mistake

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now