Documentaries have been known to influence the public, but 2015 Netflix original Making a Murderer might be altering the course of two mens' lives.
Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey were accused of murdering photographer Teresa Halbach in 2005. The accusation was based on Avery's prior 18-year prison sentence (he was later exonerated thanks to DNA evidence), the assumed fact that Avery was the last person to see Halbach living, and a shaky confession by his nephew, Dassey.
After Making a Murderer's apt illustration of several notably egregious issues with the case, petitions began to pop up on the web in favor of pardoning both men. Now, more than 150,000 people have signed the petition on Change.org, an additional 19,000 having signed an official White House petition.
The Change.org petition states that both Avery and Dassey should be granted a full pardon by President Obama for their "wrongful conviction:"
"Based on the evidence in the Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer, the justice system embarrassingly failed both men, completely ruining their entire lives," the site says.
"There is clear evidence that the Manitowoc County sheriff's department used improper methods to convict both Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey.
"This is a black mark on the justice system as a whole, and should be recognized as such, while also giving these men the ability to live as normal a life as possible."
Indeed, there are questions as to the motives of the Mantiowoc County police, and a relative abundance of evidence that just doesn't seem quite right. There was no blood found in any of the rooms in which the men supposedly murdered Halbach. The "confession" gleaned came from a young man whose sole ambition was to get home in time for Wrestlemania (Dassey); a man who later admitted that same confession came straight from a James Patterson novel.
In truth, there is a lot to question, and it seems the growing number of people who take issue with the case are ready to demand action.
It's impossible to anticipate what effect the petitions will have, but it requires only 100,000 signatures to merit a response from the White House.
No comments:
Post a Comment