Wisconsin is a frigid little pocket of the United States, nestled pretty far away from the bustlings of the America’s Eastern Seaboard. The state is known – if it’s known at all – for having an unusually good football team for its size, and for sporting some bloody peculiar accents. Thanks to Making A Murderer, it’s now also recognised for the plight of Steven Avery against the state’s absolutely messed up criminal justice system.
Thanks to the wonders of the internet, the snowed-in state has also become of intense armchair detectives Down Under, and the documentary series’ directors are here to talk shop on the whole deal. Tonight, 7.30 aired an interview with Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi, which goes a long way in addressing some of the criticisms flung at the phenomenon.
Of particular interest was the claim some vital evidence presented in the case against Avery for the murder of
Teresa Halbach was intentionally excluded to the benefit of the accused. Avery’s DNA was found underneath the bonnet of Halbach’s car – a place it shouldn’t have been, if Avery’s case was to be believed – but that element was excluded from the show.
Demos said “all of it was disputed evidence, so by leaving it out, we’re leaving out both sides.” Judging by the ferociously competent defence offered by lawyers Dean Strang and Jerry Buting, it may well have been argued out of existence anyway.
Ricciardi also downplayed the role that particular DNA finding had in the eventual conviction of Avery; the implication, of course, is that if it didn’t have significant bearing on the case’s outcome, it shouldn’t have been included in the show’s ten episodes.
They also bolstered their claims of objectivity by saying the show’s structure and style intended to let audiences put the pieces together. Demos said since they “don’t have a narrator, we don’t have a sort of objective narrative voice in this series.”
“When we chose our subjects we invited everyone who was involved in this story really, on all sides, and of course we couldn’t control who agreed.
But we really only wanted people who could talk to their first-hand experiences, to offer that to the viewer and then the viewer can create their own reality out of these differing perspectives.”
Because a) this is the real world, and Avery (and his nephew
Brendan Dassey) are still very much imprisoned and b) the entire planet seems to need closure on the story, the pair also fielded some questions about a possible second season. If you’re an absolute fiend for true crime (we won’t judge) you’ll be chuffed to hear Demos and Ricciardi are still in contact with Avery, and they’re still documenting his calls.
The pair claim their “goal was to document the process of how things would go once he was arrested and charged this time, so [Avery’s alleged guilt] really wasn’t on our minds very much” and that the show has always been about the American criminal justice system. Despite all that, Ricciardi said “we’re definitely looking into that possibility [of a second season] … it would still be the Avery-Dassey storylines.”
Until then, you may as well get around crim def atty Buting’s new book. Swoon.
