Making a Murderer

[Eric]

Anybody watch this series on Netflix yet. Thoughts?

Pretty fascinating in my opinion.

[sooner88]

Scary to see the power the police have in that county. I thought it was very fascinating and extremely frustrating.

[AP]

I started watching recently. Haven't finished yet, but I think it is very fascinating.

[okatty]

^Same here. Have watched thru episode 7. They sure end each one with a "gotcha" to make you wanna keep the binge watch going! ha

[Eric]

Hopefully I won't give anything away., but by far the most shocking thing is the actions taken by the Dassey boy's attorney Len Kachinsky. How he was allowed to practice law after that is beyond me. This guy really had me thinking that there was no way that this could be real. It had to be scripted. But alas, it apparently is real. Edited or not, the things he pulled were incontrovertible and incomprehensible.

[okatty]

^he was a complete and total moron. We should have been tipped off when they said he drew the case after finishing in 3rd place in the local judicial race.

[cferguson]

Such a great documentary. I couldnt stop watching. And yes, Kachinksy really was ridiculous. The whole thing is fascinating. It just makes you realize that if you aren't very intelligent and/or don't have a lot of money (for a good lawyer) you are definitely at a disadvantage from day one in this system. Glad I dont live in Manitowoc county.

[TU 'cane]

Talk about a coincidence... I just saw this series mentioned via a user comment on a cop related story about a family who had coordinated a super secret high level hydroponic... tomato operation (that started out as a school project) and were SWAT raided. Judge granted the warrant and all.

All over suspected use of a harmless plant.

Story I was referencing (although the user comment was via another website):

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/.../?tid=pm_pop_b

Folks, this should greatly disturb you. What am I speaking of? The power, corruption, and influence of the police forces across this country.

[OKCRT]

Kinda scary what law enforcement and the courts can get away with. If they are out to get you there's not much you can do to stop them.

The DA needs to be brought up on charges for the role he played in this. The judge also for allowing all the flawed evidence into the court room to be used against these defendants. It also appears that the jury has been brainwashed by the DA because there is so much reasonable doubt there is no way a jury should be able to convict someone in a serious matter like this. This is like a bad movie but it is real life. This could happen to someone you know esp. in a smaller town setting.

And how do they get away with treating a 16 year old child like they did. A 16 year old with an IQ just above mental retardation. So he truly is a child but was grilled like he was a harden criminal with no adult or lawyer present. Not once not twice but many times.

A higher power needs to get involved in this. To me,from the evidence it is really obvious that the DA did not prove his case. And it's not even close IMO.

[okatty]

Who knows if this is legit at all...but interesting

After Netflix documentary released, hacker group steps up to help free Steven Avery, Brendan Dassey | FOX6Now.com

[AP]

I had some commentary on this series on FB, but I'll post it here too.

I think the best part of this documentary, so far, is that it opens a lot of people's eyes to how the system is so stacked against the blue collar, working poor. A lot of middle/upper class hear about this stuff and might even discuss it often but never actually have known or seen any family like the Averys in real life. This family reminds me of countless families that I know in Tahlequah and Muskogee that this type of stuff happens to.

[OKCRT]

Who knows if this is legit at all...but interesting

After Netflix documentary released, hacker group steps up to help free Steven Avery, Brendan Dassey | FOX6Now.com

Someone deleted texts and messages from the Halbach girls phone. I assume that the defense lawyers couldn't find out who or what was deleted because I don't think it came up in court. One would think that those messages could have contained critical evidence to this case.

I am thinking one of Averys relatives might have committed the murder and planted some of the evidence to link it to Steven Avery. I also don't think that law enforcement had quite enough evidence so Link or Lenk whatever his name is might have planted the car key and the DNA to bolster the case evidence against Avery. We have to remember that when Steven Avery was released for wrongful conviction of rape after serving 18 years that the county law officials looked pretty bad. They were def. out to get Steven Avery. This whole thing just reeks of a setup.

[okatty]

The entire concept of this is so infuriating because it is such outrageous abuse of power. Authority run wild and out of control.

[kevinpate]

Gonna just lay this down right here, on the off chance someone might decide to take a look.
RIP Ron.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_In...n_a_Small_Town

[Pete]

Just started watching and got through the first episode...

One thing to keep in mind is that filmmakers are often very guilty of what they are accusing lawmakers and our justice system here: Presenting only part of the information and with a predetermined bias.

You can bet they started this project with the idea that Avery was innocent and was being abused by the system. How is that any different than when lawmakers started with the bias he was guilty?

Also, filmmakers need a compelling storyline to get people to watch.


I don't know where this series is leading because I'm purposely avoiding reading objective information until I've seen it through.

But, I've seen many, many 'documentaries' that were in fact very biased and present lots of things as fact that simply were not.

One of the most glaring came out about 10 years ago called Capturing the Freidmans. It was even nominated for an academy award and watching it you would swear that the father and son convicted of molesting dozens of kids were almost certainly innocent.

The film left out an incredible amount of information -- such as the son confessed in great detail on Geraldo -- because the filmmaker grew to believe in his innocence and angled the film in that direction. The filmmaker actually used proceed to fund the son's appeal (which failed miserably).

Many more examples and I"m not sure this series is the same, but I'm not watching this just assuming everything put forth is true or at least the whole truth. Pretty easy to decide those things on your own through Internet research than just take a filmmaker's perspective.

[BBatesokc]

Watched the series - then did my homework. Many transcripts etc. are available. The producers of the series certainly had a bias and they forwarded that bias. Regardless, my concern was less about his guilt or innocence, and more about what the system was willing to do to get the verdict they desired.

I'd personally rather see dozens of guilty people walk because prosecutors simply couldn't make a strong enough case, than to risk a single innocent person being incarcerated.

[Pete]

It's certainly scary how much power is concentrated in the hands of so few people; always a recipe for abuse.

This is one of many, many ways in which the world is a better place now than ever before: Lots more eyes watching, lots more access to info, etc.

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^
And yet very often the mob gets it wrong, too.

[Pete]

True, but then you'd expect them to.

I still have much more faith in our legal system than most, although there is no doubt the poor and disadvantaged are not treated the same as someone who can afford a great defense.

This was one of the most fascinating documentaries on this subject I've ever seen; details how the justice system often bullies people into accepting plea deals:

The Plea | FRONTLINE | PBS

[BBatesokc]

After you watch the series, then look at all the discussions/articles online regarding some pretty critical stuff that was left out of the series.

[Pete]

After you watch the series, then look at all the discussions/articles online regarding some pretty critical stuff that was left out of the series.

This has become the norm now in 'documentaries'. Almost all are agenda-driven.

I took some classes at UCLA film school and I remember the instructor -- who was a successful Hollywood producer -- said the first thing any documentarian should do is enlist someone with an opposite point of view and give them equal power. Only way to ensure balance, but of course almost no one does that these days.

[LocoAko]

After you watch the series, then look at all the discussions/articles online regarding some pretty critical stuff that was left out of the series.

Yeah. I started this two nights ago and was immediately obsessed and marathoned the rest of it. Some of the additional information is definitely suspicious, some of which wasn't allowed in court... and while it paints Avery in a less savory light, none of it still seems to be too damning or convince beyond some character assumptions. At the very least neither of them were given fair treatment by the authorities and especially Brendan Dassey deserves a new trial. Seeing how the family's reputation and socioeconomic status played into this was just icing on the cake. Very depressing and frustrating series, but fantastically done. Actually was kept up late last night thinking about it all.

I especially liked the lack of narration and just raw footage. It was of course edited but still allowed you to think it all through yourself at least.

[OKCRT]

After you watch the series, then look at all the discussions/articles online regarding some pretty critical stuff that was left out of the series.

There's just so much evidence in the doc. that creates enough reasonable doubt I just don't see how a jury could render a guilty verdict if they follow instructions. Wouldn't you agree?

And how could a judge let the DA submit so much tainted evidence?

[BBatesokc]

There's just so much evidence in the doc. that creates enough reasonable doubt I just don't see how a jury could render a guilty verdict if they follow instructions. Wouldn't you agree?

And how could a judge let the DA submit so much tainted evidence?

I'm so jaded though, I witness many a court case where I don't feel prosecutors proved guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Additionally, reasonable doubt is not as universally understood/agreed upon as some people think it is. I certainly see why some people opt for a non-jury trial.

Even closing in on a month later, I'm still completely annoyed with the whole Holtzclaw verdict.

[Plutonic Panda]

Steven Avery: Petitions calling for pardon of Making a Murderer documentary subject break 100,000 signatures | Americas | News | The Independent