Steven Avery was a victim of the justice system. His family did not fit into the norm of the town, they had been outcasted their whole lives, and it was clear from the start that he was doomed. He had had a few misdemeanors throughout his life and the police had wanted him locked up from the onset.
When Penny Beernsten described her attacker, Steven Avery did not fit the description at all, however, Judy Dvorak claimed it did. She had Chief Deputy Eugene Kusche make a composite drawing from Avery’s old jail records, rather than making one from the man Beernsten described. By showing this image to Penny Bernstenen they caused a commission bias in the lineup as the only man she had seen before was Steven Avery, causing him to stand out the most. Had this picture not been shown to Penny, I do not believe the verdict would have been the same. This case reminded me of the one we talked about in class. A news anchor was wrongfully committed due to an erroneous eyewitness testimony, where the victim had mistaken her attacker for the man she was watching on TV at the time of the incident. This proves how vital it is to not base the verdict solely on an eyewitness testimony, because as we have learned humans are not always as good at facial recognition as we may think, and many different circumstances can alter memories of what exactly happened.
The local law enforcement handled this case completely unprofessionally by planting the idea of Steven Avery into the victim’s head while turning a blind eye to all signs that pointed elsewhere. I was appalled by the way this was handled. When Avery was first arrested the Sheriff told him “I got you now,” and from there ignored any evidence that could have proven his innocence. Throughout the case, several people came forth as eyewitnesses proving that they were with Avery at the time of the incident, and yet, the cops continued to target him. They not only put an innocent man in prison, but they allowed a criminal to walk free for another 18 years, empowering him to commit more crimes.
(Word count 366)