Making A Murderer (2015) s01e08 Episode Script
The Great Burden
I can't find it.
I thought it was over here.
Maybe I came too fast, huh? Here.
Huh I did that, when he was in prison.
I was gonna raise fish.
Me and Steve.
That's why I put this building up.
And I made those tanks, I made my own farms.
I just wish that, you know, he could There's nowhere that Steven Avery will be able to go to get his reputation back if he wins this trial.
He didn't commit the rape he did 18 years for.
We know he didn't commit the rape he spent 18 years in prison for.
Where did he get his reputation back for that? He didn't.
He never did.
He never will here.
So, in some ways, to be accused is to lose.
Every time.
What you can hope to get is your liberty back, eventually.
That's all you can ever hope to get.
Reasonable doubts are for innocent people.
Let me turn for a moment to some of the evidence that's lacking, that you would expect to find if Mr.
Avery was really guilty.
No blood splatter on the walls or the ceiling.
No bloody trail of a body being carried out of that bedroom into the garage or into the burn pit.
Nothing on the carpet, nothing on the back stoop, the deck, anywhere.
No scratches on the headboard.
No rope fibers on the headboard.
Nothing that would indicate somebody restrained, struggling for their life, who was murdered in that bedroom.
The Defense argued that there was no blood that was found in the trailer.
Since Teresa wasn't killed in the trailer, there shouldn't be.
But what was found in the trailer is extremely important.
They found an Auto Trader magazine and a bill of sale.
Teresa was in that trailer.
She was in the trailer, but she was not killed in that trailer.
Teresa Halbach was killed in the garage.
She was killed in Steven Avery's garage.
"Try to put her in his house or garage.
" Now this is not blind testing.
These agents are telling Ms.
Culhane what they want.
And this is November 11th.
Well, here it is, March.
She's working on this bullet fragment now and she still has not found one item that links Teresa Halbach to Mr.
Avery's house or garage.
So she's gotta feel some pressure.
This is the biggest case of her career.
It's the biggest case the crime lab's ever had.
It's almost five months and nothing's been found.
The physical evidence, the DNA evidence, the eyewitness testimony, the scientific evidence, the big fire that Mr.
Avery had, common sense all point to one person.
This could be done by two officers.
Really one officer.
The one officer who keeps coming up, Lieutenant Lenk, whose name's on the evidence transmittal from the 1985 case just a couple years earlier.
Lieutenant Lenk, who shows up on November 5th without logging in.
Lieutenant Lenk, who finds the magic key.
Lieutenant Lenk who, four months later, four months after Manitowoc no longer is needed, with no legitimate reason, is back at that scene on March 1st, and what's found the next day? The magic bullet.
This isn't just two guys.
It's Jim Lenk and it's Andy Colborn.
Their livelihood, their reputations, their families, everything in their 20-plus years of law enforcement are on the line when some lawyer accuses them of misconduct.
Not just any misconduct, but planting evidence in a murder case.
And this vial-planting defense is absolutely ludicrous.
We only had to call one witness who scientifically could tell you that there is absolutely no way that vial of blood was used to plant.
Would Lieutenant Lenk lie? Would he lie as a sworn law enforcement officer? Well, all I can tell you is, he did twice and you heard it.
Here he says he arrives at 2:00.
When he's asked under oath before, it's 6:30 or 7:00.
This isn't 15 minutes off, folks.
It's under oath and it's a difference of four and a half or five hours.
At that time of year, November 2005, it's the difference between broad daylight and pitch black.
He was under oath.
If and when police officers plant evidence, they are not doing it to frame an innocent man.
They're doing it because they believe the man guilty.
They're not doing it to frame an innocent man.
They're doing it to ensure the conviction of someone they've decided is guilty.
If you buy Mr.
Strang's argument that they were trying to make sure that a guilty person was found guilty then assigning accountability to the murder for Teresa Halbach shouldn't matter whether or not that key was planted.
In other words, can you set that aside and decide, is there enough other evidence or is the key the only thing that points to Mr.
Avery? That key, in the big picture, in the big scheme of things here, means very little.
We do not and have never claimed that the police killed Teresa Halbach.
However, the person or persons who did knew exactly who the police would really want to blame.
Despite Mr.
Buting standing up here saying "Look, folks, we're not saying that the cops killed Teresa Halbach.
Now what we're saying is that somebody else skillfully exploited law enforcement bias," as if there's somebody smart enough out there that could do that.
But when you scrape one layer of this manure off of the topsoil, you'll realize that the cops had to kill her.
Now, are you, as the jury, in order to find Mr.
Avery not guilty, willing to say that your cops, that your Manitowoc County sheriff's deputies, Lieutenant Lenk, Sergeant Colborn, came across a 25-year-old photographer killed her, mutilated her, burned her bones, all to set up and to frame Mr.
Avery? You've gotta be willing to say that.
You've gotta make that leap.
You can decide this case, if you choose, on the evidence in the courtroom.
And only the evidence in the courtroom.
You have the power to do that.
So I ask you, please give it your full and fair consideration.
Do that critically here as citizens of Manitowoc County.
Where we stayed to pick a jury.
I don't believe it's a difficult decision because everything in this case pointed towards one person, towards one defendant.
I'm thanking you at the conclusion of this case on behalf of the State of Wisconsin and urging you, urging you, to follow the court's instructions, to follow the evidence in the case and return verdicts of guilty.
Thank you.
Thank you, Judge.
Members of the jury the time has now come when the great burden of reaching a just, fair and conscientious decision of this case is to be thrown wholly upon you, the jurors, selected for this important duty.
This jury, if they just wanted to convict him, they could.
They could come back and say, "You're guilty, that's the end of it.
" You know, even though Kratz, in my estimation, did not answer a number of critical questions that I raised yesterday.
Um, he left them on the table.
They may answer them.
You know, they may be able to collectively go back and start talking about it, "Well, now, what about this? Why would her body be in the back of the Toyota RAV4 if he really burned her there? Maybe" And they may come up with something.
And it may It may be completely speculative, or it may have some basis in the evidence, I don't know.
One other point Kratz pointed out today was Avery's 1985 wrongful rape conviction.
He reminded the jury that they are not to even consider that during their deliberations.
In the hour and a half that he addressed the jury today, Kratz attacked every theory the Defense has laid out.
Reporting live in Chilton, Emily Matesic, Action 2 News.
Yeah? I missed it.
Missed what? I was gonna watch Channel 2.
For What time? It's after 4:00 now.
Yeah? They would've had something on there.
Oh, yeah? Well, they'll have it on at five again.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- I'll have to watch it.
On Channel 2, you watch five? I mean I watch 'em all.
Yeah, but it didn't make sense what I said.
No.
You - Do you watch two on five? - Mm That's what it sounded like I said.
Yeah, I'm hoping next week for a verdict.
Not this week.
- No, I'd sooner have it next week.
- Yeah.
That way they can think about all that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, you figure they'll they'll do it tomorrow, too.
Yeah.
The jury has told the judge that they want to deliberate until 5:30 and then they want to break for the night, go back to the hotel, rest and start tomorrow.
Which means they're not They don't think they're gonna be done today.
I think if they'd come back very quickly, we would be It would be very bad for the Defense.
Um Because then it would just be like they were ready to convict him, it was just a matter of getting it over and, you know going through the formalities, but they're obviously debating something.
Just how many hours or days it'll take the jury to weigh all the testimony and evidence in the case is anyone's guess.
Before the jury left the courtroom today, Judge Patrick Willis reminded them that it is their duty to render a just and true verdict.
Live in Chilton, Becky DeVries, Fox 11 News.
Six hours and counting.
The jury in Steven Avery's trial continues to deliberate.
Thanks for joining us.
The case went to the jury yesterday afternoon.
But all the work it did was scrapped this morning after a juror was excused because of a family emergency.
Action 2 News reporter Emily Matesic joins us live from Chilton with the latest there.
Emily.
Well, Bill, that juror was actually excused last night, - but we didn't find out until - I don't know what that would mean.
the juror notified the court last night Not so good? I don't know.
This morning, the attorneys were in court to decide how to proceed.
The judge gave them three options.
- Number one 11 jurors.
- Long as the jury says "not guilty.
" The second option was to bring in an alternate juror - That he's innocent.
- The third was to declare a mistrial.
Vince and Diane, the deliberations are now back to square one.
One of the jurors was dismissed a little after 9:00 last night because of a family emergency.
So an alternate juror had to be brought into the mix to complete the 12 jurors and that means everything they talked about yesterday has to be thrown out and this jury has to start again from square one.
News that that juror had been dismissed came after the jury had been deliberating for four and a half hours yesterday.
Keep in mind, they've also been sequestered now for two days.
Under those circumstances, the judge decided that he would investigate for himself the seriousness of this family emergency.
After a couple of phone calls, he concluded that the juror did indeed need to be dismissed, but that in turn created another potential problem.
Should the deliberations continue with just 11 jurors? Which according to the judge was an option.
Should a mistrial be declared or should an alternate juror be seated? This was all up to Steven Avery and in the end, he opted to have an alternate juror come into the jury pool.
I guess I'm feeling pretty good.
As long as everything is going smooth, and I think it is.
They got the other juror on.
So that's I think it's a good thing.
Hopefully, they'll go through the evidence and try to make sense of it.
That's the only thing that's gonna help me.
I got hope.
That they're gonna do the right thing.
Tell 'em that he's innocent.
I know God is on my side, on his side.
If they find me guilty it's gonna be hard.
I don't see how I can do a life bid for something I didn't do.
You know, why have my family go through all of this and everything else? You know, I might as well just get it over with, take the other way out.
You know? I hate to think about it.
But I don't feel like doing a life bid for something I didn't do.
- Hello? - Dean? - Yeah.
Hi, Dolores.
- Hi.
What's going on yet? Nothing.
We'll know in about half an hour, 45 minutes, how long the jury's gonna work tonight.
- Oh.
Uh-huh.
- Um They asked a question earlier, wanting a whole bunch of testimony read back, and the judge said, "Well, we can't read" - They wanted all of Bobby Dassey.
- Uh-huh.
And the judge said, "Well, we You know, we can't read all of him back, so just tell us what specifically you want.
" And we haven't heard back from the jurors.
Oh, yeah? I'll call you though when we know when they're gonna quit tonight.
Yeah.
OK then, Dean.
- OK.
Thanks.
Bye.
- OK.
Yeah.
Bye.
"Dean Strang had me in tears this morning.
It's probably a good thing that he isn't the only defense lawyer on this case 'cause he'd win it.
Or come close to swaying people who might be dead-set on a guilty verdict, in my opinion.
Jerry Buting comes across very abrasive.
Almost whiny at times.
" Hm.
Viewer emails about Buting.
Really? She's got it posted now.
This is interesting.
"The guy scares me.
I am afraid Avery might walk and I think he is definitely guilty.
Do you happen to know what the Averys do during lunch? I am thinking that the people of Chilton might not be too kind to them if they came in the restaurants.
" Quite the contrary.
Yeah.
Well, OK then, Dean.
Yeah? OK.
Sure.
OK.
Bye.
They may be getting close to a verdic verdict.
He doesn't know.
But they're gonna stay.
They're having their, uh uh supper there.
And they're gonna stay there.
Why do you think you're here? Why is it you're here? Sitting in jail waiting for a verdict? Well I don't know how to answer that.
Yeah, that's a kinda tough question.
Yeah, it is.
Let me start Let me try something easier.
Um What has this trial been like for you? What kind of feelings have you had about this trial as it's gone on? Mostly if they're gonna believe me or not.
If justice is gonna be right this time.
Than like last time.
You know, last time, it didn't take 'em long and they found me guilty.
You know, I think about that probably all the time.
A court official has just come into the media room and announced that we do have a verdict.
The jury has reached a verdict after about 20-plus hours of deliberation and that verdict will be read at 5:30 this evening.
Reporting live in Chilton, Dan O'Donnell, News Radio 620, WTMJ.
OK, you're ten minutes away or? OK.
All right, we will, um we'll be outside wait We'll be outside waiting for you.
OK.
Bye.
The room is open, our little room, so as soon as court's done, go to that room if you would and Jerry and I will get to it as soon as we can - OK.
- with you.
We're gonna stop there, it'll be a very few minutes and we're gonna send you home.
OK? And we'll talk later in the week, good or bad.
Either way, you know, 'cause there are gonna be questions and follow-up If they say he's innocent, he goes home though, tonight? Of all three counts, if they say he's innocent, - he goes home tonight.
- Oh, yeah, that's what I mean.
And that's one of the reasons we're just gonna spend a few minutes with you, - is we gotta get down to see Steve.
- Mm-hm.
If he's innocent or not, we gotta go see him.
- Yeah.
- And make sure nobody follows you home.
OK? If Steve is found not guilty, you're gonna have some very angry people in the community.
So make sure you're not being followed.
If you are, come right back here and go to a state patrol.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Members of the jury, the court has been informed that the jury has reached its verdicts in this case.
At this time, I will ask the foreperson to present the verdicts to the bailiff so that they may be brought forward.
At this time, the court will read the verdicts.
On count one, the verdict reads as follows: "We, the jury, find the defendant, Steven A.
Avery, guilty of first degree intentional homicide as charged in the first count of the information.
" On count two, the verdict reads: "We, the jury, find the defendant, Steven A.
Avery, not guilty of mutilating a corpse as charged in the second count of the information.
" On count three, the verdict reads: "We, the jury, find the defendant, Steven Avery, guilty of possession of a firearm, as charged in the third count of the information.
" The verdict on count one is signed by the foreperson of the jury, dated today.
The other verdicts are also signed by the foreperson of the jury.
Members of the jury, on behalf of Manitowoc County, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude and appreciation for your service in this case.
I recognize the personal sacrifice that the court has required of you during this trial.
That sacrifice is a necessary part of the price we pay for the judicial system every citizen enjoys.
I hope that you found the experience a rewarding one.
At this time, you are excused.
We're obviously happy with the results.
We believe that a just result was reached in this trial.
We had a pretty good idea going into this prosecution the kind of individual that Mr.
Avery was.
I think that what Mr.
Avery did to Teresa Halbach should speak volumes as to the kind of person that that Mr.
Avery is, and that's why I'm very happy that the citizens of Manitowoc County won't need to worry about Mr.
Avery being on their streets anymore.
OK.
Just on a personal note, I'm sure I speak on behalf of the entire prosecution team in thanking all of you for allowing us to, uh to kind of host this this trial for you here in little Calumet County, so with that, have a good evening.
Thank you, everyone.
- Thank you, gentlemen.
- Thank you.
All right.
Do you think that's some kind of compromise by the jury? I You know, you'd have to ask jurors that.
Um, but I can't explain how one would arrive at, um, what clearly seemed to be inconsistent verdicts.
It's not the first time that's ever happened though either.
You talked about this process as potentially being redemptive and you get a little emotional about it.
I mean, now you've been through this process.
- Was it the redemption you'd hoped for? - No.
Redemption will have to wait, as it so often does in human affairs.
Um it just will have to wait.
Our criminal justice system failed Steven Avery badly in 1985.
It failed him time and time again after 1985.
Um I fear this is one more failure, in spite of everyone's best efforts, um, and honest efforts.
So I'm very sad at a personal level because I've lost a case.
I'm sad at a broader level, um, that we'll We You know, in human life, we just haven't mastered justice any better than we have.
So do you think that there's a killer out there that the police have not caught? Absolutely.
I mean That's been our position all along.
Do you think the guilty verdict on the homicide makes it more likely or less likely that Brendan Dassey would be found guilty of that? We're not gonna comment on Brendan Dassey's case at all.
- Not gonna comment about it.
- At all.
Neither should you.
Um How's that for being judgmental on a day of judgments here? Um this is a kid who has a trial upcoming and, um I'd like to see him start with a stronger presumption of innocence than his adult uncle was able to.
- Thank you, gentlemen.
- Thank you.
All right.
The way it turned out? They got their way.
Period.
Manitowoc County won again.
Sergeant Andrew Colborn, one of the law enforcement officers accused of planting evidence, released a statement today.
It reads in part, "I hope and pray that this verdict helps put to rest any suspicions or loss of confidence that this community may have felt towards our department, because I assure everyone that this agency has some of the finest law enforcement officers in the country in its employ.
" End quote.
Fox 11 also spoke with Scott Tadych, Steven Avery's brother-in-law.
He said, quote, "What happened yesterday is the best thing in the world.
" And also, "He got what he got comin' to him.
" I mean, I don't know if this will make you feel good or bad, but the first vote, you know, a lot of times what jurors do is they go in and they say, "OK, let's just take a see a show of hands where people are leaning right now.
" Seven for not guilty.
The vote was seven innocent, three guilty and two undecided.
That's the way they started off.
Now obviously it didn't stay that way and The majority of us were easygoing and laid-back.
But, um there were a couple stubborn ones, too.
And, um, it seems like stubborn people can sway softer people their way.
It's just I don't know.
For some reason, psychologically, I think that's possible.
I know there were three that were stubborn and, you know, weren't participating.
Which made me feel uncomfortable, being there.
I deliberated for four hours with the jury and had to leave because of a medical emergency.
And, um I felt there were some biased jurors that didn't, you know, keep an open mind and they had their mind made up, you know, before the trial started.
Which I was pretty discouraged about myself.
All I know is that a lot of us were weak.
Starting deliberations, weak and tired.
I don't know if it was a compromise, you know? "Let's just do something here so we can get outta here.
" I don't know.
To me, there's a lot of unanswered questions.
I mean, to me, I believe we don't know for sure.
I mean, I don't know for sure who killed Teresa.
Or how it happened.
I mean, all I have is statements from both sides.
But I don't think anybody'll ever know what actually happened.
Mr.
Kratz is an experienced prosecutor.
Mr.
Kratz knows right from wrong.
Mr.
Kratz knows ethics.
Mr.
Kratz acted unprofessionally in this.
I can't respect him for it.
He's supposed to be seeking the truth.
This wasn't seeking a truth, he was seeking a conviction.
And as a district attorney, he is responsible above everybody on this.
He called the shots.
He told the cops which way he wanted 'em to run and he is probably the most culpable of anybody for this.
And they gave him an award for winning this case.
It's What's going on now just proves, in my opinion, proves that how hell-bent they were on nailing him.
You know, how dare an Avery make County look bad.
You know.
Now it's turned back around again.
The county's making Avery look bad.
And I think that's right where they wanted it to be.
You know, it played right out in their hand.
If it's all right with you guys, I'd like to have a talk about Brendan.
Um - Sort of a heart-to-heart on this.
Um - Mm-hm.
I don't know where your family is on this, but as horrible as this is for a 44-year-old man, it's ten times worse when you're talking about a 17-year-old boy who's not very bright and, um you know, hasn't had a chance in life.
Um Now I know we lost the trial, but I think now this community is a lot less certain that Steven and Brendan did it than they were before we started Steven's case.
Yeah, because we're getting more letters that he's innocent.
- "A hundred percent innocent," she says.
- That has to help Brendan.
And when the when the prosecutor stands up in closing arguments, you guys, and says, "All the evidence shows that one man and one man only is responsible for the death of Teresa Halbach" - One.
- One.
One and one only.
- Yeah.
- Meaning Steven Avery.
- Yeah.
- So how do you come in and prosecute a 17-year-old boy after you've stood up and said that? That Mark and Tom? That Tom called up Scotty the other day.
Scotty was supposed to get Barbara to tell Brendan to take the plea bargain.
- No.
That would be a no-no.
- And that's 15.
- That's asking - Did she tell you that too? The plea is 15 years.
And then 15 probation.
Um So, I mean, seriously? - Tom called Scott Tadych - Mm-hm.
and said, "Tell your wife to make her son" - That's what she told me.
- "take the deal.
" - Yeah, she said that to me too.
- And what does Scott Is Scott doing that kind of thing? He's never seemed to me to be on Brendan's side.
Oh, he told Barbara.
And Barbara said there's no way.
Lead prosecutor Ken Kratz knows his job is only half done.
Avery's co-defendant and nephew Brendan Dassey goes to trial on April 16th in Manitowoc County, that trial expected to last two weeks.
So a victory for you with the change of venue, bringing the jury in from another county? I don't know if you want to call it a victory, but I think it's important that the jury be a fair jury, and I think this is a way to ensure that.
When's the last time you talked to Brendan? Uh, we just did.
No, I We I met with him actually twice in the last, you know, seven days.
- How's he doing? What's his? - He's fine.
Yeah.
- Do you have any concerns - He's a very quiet person.
Do you anticipate, um, discussing with the State the possibility of a plea agreement? Because that has been something prior counsel I guess had discussed.
- Plea negotiations? - Correct.
Uh they'll be offered, I'm sure, but once again, we're dealing with preparing for April 16th for trial.
That's the way we're gonna continue to prepare.
When we actually got copies of motions and the file from the prosecutor, we realized that there had been some major missteps, and so we were not only going to be representing somebody, but we're also now having to go back and try to correct mistakes that are already made.
And that's That makes it a little more difficult, because you don't usually get more than one crack at it.
And now we're kind of thrown in there to try to fix a problem, along with trying to represent somebody.
Mark asked me, you know, would I be interested in helping.
And after he persuaded me a little bit, I said sure.
I think Ray was being nice by saying I asked him.
I pled with him to help me on this case, because it certainly isn't the case that you can just have one person and there's not a lot of attorneys in Oshkosh that have a background dealing with homicides.
And this will be my fifth or sixth homicide case.
Um, second trial, homicide trial.
At least they believe in him.
That's the main thing.
And I believe in him.
You tell everybody the truth when you gotta get up on the stand.
Yeah, but look at all the stuff that they can use, though.
- What's that? - All my statements.
Well, what did you tell me? How did you give your statements? Well, they talked They kept on asking me the questions and that.
OK, then.
Until they heard what they wanted.
That's what you need to tell when you get up on the stand.
That's what you need to tell them.
The truth.
I thought it was over here.
Maybe I came too fast, huh? Here.
Huh I did that, when he was in prison.
I was gonna raise fish.
Me and Steve.
That's why I put this building up.
And I made those tanks, I made my own farms.
I just wish that, you know, he could There's nowhere that Steven Avery will be able to go to get his reputation back if he wins this trial.
He didn't commit the rape he did 18 years for.
We know he didn't commit the rape he spent 18 years in prison for.
Where did he get his reputation back for that? He didn't.
He never did.
He never will here.
So, in some ways, to be accused is to lose.
Every time.
What you can hope to get is your liberty back, eventually.
That's all you can ever hope to get.
Reasonable doubts are for innocent people.
Let me turn for a moment to some of the evidence that's lacking, that you would expect to find if Mr.
Avery was really guilty.
No blood splatter on the walls or the ceiling.
No bloody trail of a body being carried out of that bedroom into the garage or into the burn pit.
Nothing on the carpet, nothing on the back stoop, the deck, anywhere.
No scratches on the headboard.
No rope fibers on the headboard.
Nothing that would indicate somebody restrained, struggling for their life, who was murdered in that bedroom.
The Defense argued that there was no blood that was found in the trailer.
Since Teresa wasn't killed in the trailer, there shouldn't be.
But what was found in the trailer is extremely important.
They found an Auto Trader magazine and a bill of sale.
Teresa was in that trailer.
She was in the trailer, but she was not killed in that trailer.
Teresa Halbach was killed in the garage.
She was killed in Steven Avery's garage.
"Try to put her in his house or garage.
" Now this is not blind testing.
These agents are telling Ms.
Culhane what they want.
And this is November 11th.
Well, here it is, March.
She's working on this bullet fragment now and she still has not found one item that links Teresa Halbach to Mr.
Avery's house or garage.
So she's gotta feel some pressure.
This is the biggest case of her career.
It's the biggest case the crime lab's ever had.
It's almost five months and nothing's been found.
The physical evidence, the DNA evidence, the eyewitness testimony, the scientific evidence, the big fire that Mr.
Avery had, common sense all point to one person.
This could be done by two officers.
Really one officer.
The one officer who keeps coming up, Lieutenant Lenk, whose name's on the evidence transmittal from the 1985 case just a couple years earlier.
Lieutenant Lenk, who shows up on November 5th without logging in.
Lieutenant Lenk, who finds the magic key.
Lieutenant Lenk who, four months later, four months after Manitowoc no longer is needed, with no legitimate reason, is back at that scene on March 1st, and what's found the next day? The magic bullet.
This isn't just two guys.
It's Jim Lenk and it's Andy Colborn.
Their livelihood, their reputations, their families, everything in their 20-plus years of law enforcement are on the line when some lawyer accuses them of misconduct.
Not just any misconduct, but planting evidence in a murder case.
And this vial-planting defense is absolutely ludicrous.
We only had to call one witness who scientifically could tell you that there is absolutely no way that vial of blood was used to plant.
Would Lieutenant Lenk lie? Would he lie as a sworn law enforcement officer? Well, all I can tell you is, he did twice and you heard it.
Here he says he arrives at 2:00.
When he's asked under oath before, it's 6:30 or 7:00.
This isn't 15 minutes off, folks.
It's under oath and it's a difference of four and a half or five hours.
At that time of year, November 2005, it's the difference between broad daylight and pitch black.
He was under oath.
If and when police officers plant evidence, they are not doing it to frame an innocent man.
They're doing it because they believe the man guilty.
They're not doing it to frame an innocent man.
They're doing it to ensure the conviction of someone they've decided is guilty.
If you buy Mr.
Strang's argument that they were trying to make sure that a guilty person was found guilty then assigning accountability to the murder for Teresa Halbach shouldn't matter whether or not that key was planted.
In other words, can you set that aside and decide, is there enough other evidence or is the key the only thing that points to Mr.
Avery? That key, in the big picture, in the big scheme of things here, means very little.
We do not and have never claimed that the police killed Teresa Halbach.
However, the person or persons who did knew exactly who the police would really want to blame.
Despite Mr.
Buting standing up here saying "Look, folks, we're not saying that the cops killed Teresa Halbach.
Now what we're saying is that somebody else skillfully exploited law enforcement bias," as if there's somebody smart enough out there that could do that.
But when you scrape one layer of this manure off of the topsoil, you'll realize that the cops had to kill her.
Now, are you, as the jury, in order to find Mr.
Avery not guilty, willing to say that your cops, that your Manitowoc County sheriff's deputies, Lieutenant Lenk, Sergeant Colborn, came across a 25-year-old photographer killed her, mutilated her, burned her bones, all to set up and to frame Mr.
Avery? You've gotta be willing to say that.
You've gotta make that leap.
You can decide this case, if you choose, on the evidence in the courtroom.
And only the evidence in the courtroom.
You have the power to do that.
So I ask you, please give it your full and fair consideration.
Do that critically here as citizens of Manitowoc County.
Where we stayed to pick a jury.
I don't believe it's a difficult decision because everything in this case pointed towards one person, towards one defendant.
I'm thanking you at the conclusion of this case on behalf of the State of Wisconsin and urging you, urging you, to follow the court's instructions, to follow the evidence in the case and return verdicts of guilty.
Thank you.
Thank you, Judge.
Members of the jury the time has now come when the great burden of reaching a just, fair and conscientious decision of this case is to be thrown wholly upon you, the jurors, selected for this important duty.
This jury, if they just wanted to convict him, they could.
They could come back and say, "You're guilty, that's the end of it.
" You know, even though Kratz, in my estimation, did not answer a number of critical questions that I raised yesterday.
Um, he left them on the table.
They may answer them.
You know, they may be able to collectively go back and start talking about it, "Well, now, what about this? Why would her body be in the back of the Toyota RAV4 if he really burned her there? Maybe" And they may come up with something.
And it may It may be completely speculative, or it may have some basis in the evidence, I don't know.
One other point Kratz pointed out today was Avery's 1985 wrongful rape conviction.
He reminded the jury that they are not to even consider that during their deliberations.
In the hour and a half that he addressed the jury today, Kratz attacked every theory the Defense has laid out.
Reporting live in Chilton, Emily Matesic, Action 2 News.
Yeah? I missed it.
Missed what? I was gonna watch Channel 2.
For What time? It's after 4:00 now.
Yeah? They would've had something on there.
Oh, yeah? Well, they'll have it on at five again.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- I'll have to watch it.
On Channel 2, you watch five? I mean I watch 'em all.
Yeah, but it didn't make sense what I said.
No.
You - Do you watch two on five? - Mm That's what it sounded like I said.
Yeah, I'm hoping next week for a verdict.
Not this week.
- No, I'd sooner have it next week.
- Yeah.
That way they can think about all that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, you figure they'll they'll do it tomorrow, too.
Yeah.
The jury has told the judge that they want to deliberate until 5:30 and then they want to break for the night, go back to the hotel, rest and start tomorrow.
Which means they're not They don't think they're gonna be done today.
I think if they'd come back very quickly, we would be It would be very bad for the Defense.
Um Because then it would just be like they were ready to convict him, it was just a matter of getting it over and, you know going through the formalities, but they're obviously debating something.
Just how many hours or days it'll take the jury to weigh all the testimony and evidence in the case is anyone's guess.
Before the jury left the courtroom today, Judge Patrick Willis reminded them that it is their duty to render a just and true verdict.
Live in Chilton, Becky DeVries, Fox 11 News.
Six hours and counting.
The jury in Steven Avery's trial continues to deliberate.
Thanks for joining us.
The case went to the jury yesterday afternoon.
But all the work it did was scrapped this morning after a juror was excused because of a family emergency.
Action 2 News reporter Emily Matesic joins us live from Chilton with the latest there.
Emily.
Well, Bill, that juror was actually excused last night, - but we didn't find out until - I don't know what that would mean.
the juror notified the court last night Not so good? I don't know.
This morning, the attorneys were in court to decide how to proceed.
The judge gave them three options.
- Number one 11 jurors.
- Long as the jury says "not guilty.
" The second option was to bring in an alternate juror - That he's innocent.
- The third was to declare a mistrial.
Vince and Diane, the deliberations are now back to square one.
One of the jurors was dismissed a little after 9:00 last night because of a family emergency.
So an alternate juror had to be brought into the mix to complete the 12 jurors and that means everything they talked about yesterday has to be thrown out and this jury has to start again from square one.
News that that juror had been dismissed came after the jury had been deliberating for four and a half hours yesterday.
Keep in mind, they've also been sequestered now for two days.
Under those circumstances, the judge decided that he would investigate for himself the seriousness of this family emergency.
After a couple of phone calls, he concluded that the juror did indeed need to be dismissed, but that in turn created another potential problem.
Should the deliberations continue with just 11 jurors? Which according to the judge was an option.
Should a mistrial be declared or should an alternate juror be seated? This was all up to Steven Avery and in the end, he opted to have an alternate juror come into the jury pool.
I guess I'm feeling pretty good.
As long as everything is going smooth, and I think it is.
They got the other juror on.
So that's I think it's a good thing.
Hopefully, they'll go through the evidence and try to make sense of it.
That's the only thing that's gonna help me.
I got hope.
That they're gonna do the right thing.
Tell 'em that he's innocent.
I know God is on my side, on his side.
If they find me guilty it's gonna be hard.
I don't see how I can do a life bid for something I didn't do.
You know, why have my family go through all of this and everything else? You know, I might as well just get it over with, take the other way out.
You know? I hate to think about it.
But I don't feel like doing a life bid for something I didn't do.
- Hello? - Dean? - Yeah.
Hi, Dolores.
- Hi.
What's going on yet? Nothing.
We'll know in about half an hour, 45 minutes, how long the jury's gonna work tonight.
- Oh.
Uh-huh.
- Um They asked a question earlier, wanting a whole bunch of testimony read back, and the judge said, "Well, we can't read" - They wanted all of Bobby Dassey.
- Uh-huh.
And the judge said, "Well, we You know, we can't read all of him back, so just tell us what specifically you want.
" And we haven't heard back from the jurors.
Oh, yeah? I'll call you though when we know when they're gonna quit tonight.
Yeah.
OK then, Dean.
- OK.
Thanks.
Bye.
- OK.
Yeah.
Bye.
"Dean Strang had me in tears this morning.
It's probably a good thing that he isn't the only defense lawyer on this case 'cause he'd win it.
Or come close to swaying people who might be dead-set on a guilty verdict, in my opinion.
Jerry Buting comes across very abrasive.
Almost whiny at times.
" Hm.
Viewer emails about Buting.
Really? She's got it posted now.
This is interesting.
"The guy scares me.
I am afraid Avery might walk and I think he is definitely guilty.
Do you happen to know what the Averys do during lunch? I am thinking that the people of Chilton might not be too kind to them if they came in the restaurants.
" Quite the contrary.
Yeah.
Well, OK then, Dean.
Yeah? OK.
Sure.
OK.
Bye.
They may be getting close to a verdic verdict.
He doesn't know.
But they're gonna stay.
They're having their, uh uh supper there.
And they're gonna stay there.
Why do you think you're here? Why is it you're here? Sitting in jail waiting for a verdict? Well I don't know how to answer that.
Yeah, that's a kinda tough question.
Yeah, it is.
Let me start Let me try something easier.
Um What has this trial been like for you? What kind of feelings have you had about this trial as it's gone on? Mostly if they're gonna believe me or not.
If justice is gonna be right this time.
Than like last time.
You know, last time, it didn't take 'em long and they found me guilty.
You know, I think about that probably all the time.
A court official has just come into the media room and announced that we do have a verdict.
The jury has reached a verdict after about 20-plus hours of deliberation and that verdict will be read at 5:30 this evening.
Reporting live in Chilton, Dan O'Donnell, News Radio 620, WTMJ.
OK, you're ten minutes away or? OK.
All right, we will, um we'll be outside wait We'll be outside waiting for you.
OK.
Bye.
The room is open, our little room, so as soon as court's done, go to that room if you would and Jerry and I will get to it as soon as we can - OK.
- with you.
We're gonna stop there, it'll be a very few minutes and we're gonna send you home.
OK? And we'll talk later in the week, good or bad.
Either way, you know, 'cause there are gonna be questions and follow-up If they say he's innocent, he goes home though, tonight? Of all three counts, if they say he's innocent, - he goes home tonight.
- Oh, yeah, that's what I mean.
And that's one of the reasons we're just gonna spend a few minutes with you, - is we gotta get down to see Steve.
- Mm-hm.
If he's innocent or not, we gotta go see him.
- Yeah.
- And make sure nobody follows you home.
OK? If Steve is found not guilty, you're gonna have some very angry people in the community.
So make sure you're not being followed.
If you are, come right back here and go to a state patrol.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Members of the jury, the court has been informed that the jury has reached its verdicts in this case.
At this time, I will ask the foreperson to present the verdicts to the bailiff so that they may be brought forward.
At this time, the court will read the verdicts.
On count one, the verdict reads as follows: "We, the jury, find the defendant, Steven A.
Avery, guilty of first degree intentional homicide as charged in the first count of the information.
" On count two, the verdict reads: "We, the jury, find the defendant, Steven A.
Avery, not guilty of mutilating a corpse as charged in the second count of the information.
" On count three, the verdict reads: "We, the jury, find the defendant, Steven Avery, guilty of possession of a firearm, as charged in the third count of the information.
" The verdict on count one is signed by the foreperson of the jury, dated today.
The other verdicts are also signed by the foreperson of the jury.
Members of the jury, on behalf of Manitowoc County, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude and appreciation for your service in this case.
I recognize the personal sacrifice that the court has required of you during this trial.
That sacrifice is a necessary part of the price we pay for the judicial system every citizen enjoys.
I hope that you found the experience a rewarding one.
At this time, you are excused.
We're obviously happy with the results.
We believe that a just result was reached in this trial.
We had a pretty good idea going into this prosecution the kind of individual that Mr.
Avery was.
I think that what Mr.
Avery did to Teresa Halbach should speak volumes as to the kind of person that that Mr.
Avery is, and that's why I'm very happy that the citizens of Manitowoc County won't need to worry about Mr.
Avery being on their streets anymore.
OK.
Just on a personal note, I'm sure I speak on behalf of the entire prosecution team in thanking all of you for allowing us to, uh to kind of host this this trial for you here in little Calumet County, so with that, have a good evening.
Thank you, everyone.
- Thank you, gentlemen.
- Thank you.
All right.
Do you think that's some kind of compromise by the jury? I You know, you'd have to ask jurors that.
Um, but I can't explain how one would arrive at, um, what clearly seemed to be inconsistent verdicts.
It's not the first time that's ever happened though either.
You talked about this process as potentially being redemptive and you get a little emotional about it.
I mean, now you've been through this process.
- Was it the redemption you'd hoped for? - No.
Redemption will have to wait, as it so often does in human affairs.
Um it just will have to wait.
Our criminal justice system failed Steven Avery badly in 1985.
It failed him time and time again after 1985.
Um I fear this is one more failure, in spite of everyone's best efforts, um, and honest efforts.
So I'm very sad at a personal level because I've lost a case.
I'm sad at a broader level, um, that we'll We You know, in human life, we just haven't mastered justice any better than we have.
So do you think that there's a killer out there that the police have not caught? Absolutely.
I mean That's been our position all along.
Do you think the guilty verdict on the homicide makes it more likely or less likely that Brendan Dassey would be found guilty of that? We're not gonna comment on Brendan Dassey's case at all.
- Not gonna comment about it.
- At all.
Neither should you.
Um How's that for being judgmental on a day of judgments here? Um this is a kid who has a trial upcoming and, um I'd like to see him start with a stronger presumption of innocence than his adult uncle was able to.
- Thank you, gentlemen.
- Thank you.
All right.
The way it turned out? They got their way.
Period.
Manitowoc County won again.
Sergeant Andrew Colborn, one of the law enforcement officers accused of planting evidence, released a statement today.
It reads in part, "I hope and pray that this verdict helps put to rest any suspicions or loss of confidence that this community may have felt towards our department, because I assure everyone that this agency has some of the finest law enforcement officers in the country in its employ.
" End quote.
Fox 11 also spoke with Scott Tadych, Steven Avery's brother-in-law.
He said, quote, "What happened yesterday is the best thing in the world.
" And also, "He got what he got comin' to him.
" I mean, I don't know if this will make you feel good or bad, but the first vote, you know, a lot of times what jurors do is they go in and they say, "OK, let's just take a see a show of hands where people are leaning right now.
" Seven for not guilty.
The vote was seven innocent, three guilty and two undecided.
That's the way they started off.
Now obviously it didn't stay that way and The majority of us were easygoing and laid-back.
But, um there were a couple stubborn ones, too.
And, um, it seems like stubborn people can sway softer people their way.
It's just I don't know.
For some reason, psychologically, I think that's possible.
I know there were three that were stubborn and, you know, weren't participating.
Which made me feel uncomfortable, being there.
I deliberated for four hours with the jury and had to leave because of a medical emergency.
And, um I felt there were some biased jurors that didn't, you know, keep an open mind and they had their mind made up, you know, before the trial started.
Which I was pretty discouraged about myself.
All I know is that a lot of us were weak.
Starting deliberations, weak and tired.
I don't know if it was a compromise, you know? "Let's just do something here so we can get outta here.
" I don't know.
To me, there's a lot of unanswered questions.
I mean, to me, I believe we don't know for sure.
I mean, I don't know for sure who killed Teresa.
Or how it happened.
I mean, all I have is statements from both sides.
But I don't think anybody'll ever know what actually happened.
Mr.
Kratz is an experienced prosecutor.
Mr.
Kratz knows right from wrong.
Mr.
Kratz knows ethics.
Mr.
Kratz acted unprofessionally in this.
I can't respect him for it.
He's supposed to be seeking the truth.
This wasn't seeking a truth, he was seeking a conviction.
And as a district attorney, he is responsible above everybody on this.
He called the shots.
He told the cops which way he wanted 'em to run and he is probably the most culpable of anybody for this.
And they gave him an award for winning this case.
It's What's going on now just proves, in my opinion, proves that how hell-bent they were on nailing him.
You know, how dare an Avery make County look bad.
You know.
Now it's turned back around again.
The county's making Avery look bad.
And I think that's right where they wanted it to be.
You know, it played right out in their hand.
If it's all right with you guys, I'd like to have a talk about Brendan.
Um - Sort of a heart-to-heart on this.
Um - Mm-hm.
I don't know where your family is on this, but as horrible as this is for a 44-year-old man, it's ten times worse when you're talking about a 17-year-old boy who's not very bright and, um you know, hasn't had a chance in life.
Um Now I know we lost the trial, but I think now this community is a lot less certain that Steven and Brendan did it than they were before we started Steven's case.
Yeah, because we're getting more letters that he's innocent.
- "A hundred percent innocent," she says.
- That has to help Brendan.
And when the when the prosecutor stands up in closing arguments, you guys, and says, "All the evidence shows that one man and one man only is responsible for the death of Teresa Halbach" - One.
- One.
One and one only.
- Yeah.
- Meaning Steven Avery.
- Yeah.
- So how do you come in and prosecute a 17-year-old boy after you've stood up and said that? That Mark and Tom? That Tom called up Scotty the other day.
Scotty was supposed to get Barbara to tell Brendan to take the plea bargain.
- No.
That would be a no-no.
- And that's 15.
- That's asking - Did she tell you that too? The plea is 15 years.
And then 15 probation.
Um So, I mean, seriously? - Tom called Scott Tadych - Mm-hm.
and said, "Tell your wife to make her son" - That's what she told me.
- "take the deal.
" - Yeah, she said that to me too.
- And what does Scott Is Scott doing that kind of thing? He's never seemed to me to be on Brendan's side.
Oh, he told Barbara.
And Barbara said there's no way.
Lead prosecutor Ken Kratz knows his job is only half done.
Avery's co-defendant and nephew Brendan Dassey goes to trial on April 16th in Manitowoc County, that trial expected to last two weeks.
So a victory for you with the change of venue, bringing the jury in from another county? I don't know if you want to call it a victory, but I think it's important that the jury be a fair jury, and I think this is a way to ensure that.
When's the last time you talked to Brendan? Uh, we just did.
No, I We I met with him actually twice in the last, you know, seven days.
- How's he doing? What's his? - He's fine.
Yeah.
- Do you have any concerns - He's a very quiet person.
Do you anticipate, um, discussing with the State the possibility of a plea agreement? Because that has been something prior counsel I guess had discussed.
- Plea negotiations? - Correct.
Uh they'll be offered, I'm sure, but once again, we're dealing with preparing for April 16th for trial.
That's the way we're gonna continue to prepare.
When we actually got copies of motions and the file from the prosecutor, we realized that there had been some major missteps, and so we were not only going to be representing somebody, but we're also now having to go back and try to correct mistakes that are already made.
And that's That makes it a little more difficult, because you don't usually get more than one crack at it.
And now we're kind of thrown in there to try to fix a problem, along with trying to represent somebody.
Mark asked me, you know, would I be interested in helping.
And after he persuaded me a little bit, I said sure.
I think Ray was being nice by saying I asked him.
I pled with him to help me on this case, because it certainly isn't the case that you can just have one person and there's not a lot of attorneys in Oshkosh that have a background dealing with homicides.
And this will be my fifth or sixth homicide case.
Um, second trial, homicide trial.
At least they believe in him.
That's the main thing.
And I believe in him.
You tell everybody the truth when you gotta get up on the stand.
Yeah, but look at all the stuff that they can use, though.
- What's that? - All my statements.
Well, what did you tell me? How did you give your statements? Well, they talked They kept on asking me the questions and that.
OK, then.
Until they heard what they wanted.
That's what you need to tell when you get up on the stand.
That's what you need to tell them.
The truth.