The Breakdown of the Criminal Justice System

Stop wrongful convictions

By Lynn, StopWrongfulConvictions.wordpress.com

January 23, 2012

In May 2011 I was able to view a local murder trial online, the Brad Cooper trial.  I was shocked to have witnessed blatant police, prosecutorial and judicial misconduct.  Police changing their notes, lying, convincing witnesses to change their stories, mishandling and destruction of evidence and just an overall botched investigation.  The prosecutors promoted the fabricated evidence and the judge made biased rulings throughout the 10 week trial.  Brad Cooper was convicted on nothing more than baseless circumstantial evidence; none of which held up.  It was shocking and I had to do something so I started a blog about the case: http://justiceforbradcooper.wordpress.com/.

Since that time I have come across several other wrongful conviction cases where the person was convicted even though the State clearly did not meet the burden of proof.  This is very disturbing that juries are convicting people when much reasonable doubt remains and in some cases, clear evidence proving innocence is ignored.  It is wonderful to see some of the recent convictions overturned based on DNA evidence, but it’s terrible that in many cases it’s taken decades to occur.   This blog will highlight some of the cases that are currently stuck in the system.  It has become quite clear to me that anyone can be falsely accused and then convicted of a crime.  Evidence is not required to convict a person.  This must stop.

Crime Lab's Involvement: Blood, Ethics and the War on Evil
By jdell408, subreddit TickTockManitowoc
December 6, 2016

There's a good reason they immediately hauled away the Rav-4 despite the fact that it could potentially have been the crime scene. Once it was confirmed that TH was not alive inside the vehicle (because, you know, she was supposedly still a “missing person” at this point) yet large stains of what appeared to be blood were located inside, the Rav-4 should have remained untouched, photographed and processed exactly where it was found. However, the vehicle was never even opened until the day after it reached the crime lab. Every picture you see of the inside of the Rav-4 (including all the bloodstains) was taken AT THE CRIME LAB.

Additionally, the crime lab already had possession of Steven Avery’s Grand Prix which had a decent amount of visible blood from the cut on his finger that occurred around the same time frame or just shortly after TH’s disappearance. Also, the 6th unconstitutional search warrant (magical key discovery) was granted so that Lenk and Colborn could collect swabs of blood drops (from the same cut) that were located in Avery's house (the day after the Crime Lab had already processed the house [why wouldn't the crime lab collect it themselves?])

So now we have proof that Sherry "whatsprotocol?" Culhane had at least 2 sources of recent SA blood and in fact was having those sources tested for DNA at precisely the same time as the Rav-4. Sherry Culhane also admits that she simply left all the swabs in “coin envelopes” on her desk overnight and then left all blood evidence in her cabinet for months. It was reported that at least 12 other techs had keys to this cabinet and possibly up to 50 people over the course of 5 months. (Source: Trial Transcripts - SC takes the stand pgs 69-90) This is a gross deviation from logic, let alone Crime Lab protocol. They have an evidence locker managed by a qualified and experienced evidence custodian, yet all the evidence Sherry Culhane receives she puts in a simple cupboard at her desk. You would think that the most important and significant murder case this Lab has ever seen would require the proper handling of evidence such as evidence logs for receiving and checking out evidence, dates, times and personnel handling records - you know, basics. But you would be wrong.

Jerome Buting’s ethics and procedures violations report on the personnel of the crime lab and their superiors and chain of command was not without merit. In fact, there should be further follow up and/or investigation as to what exactly occurred as a result of this report because from my understanding, the AG or DOJ basically replied with “well, we investigated ourselves and found that we handled these situations ourselves already and that ourselves are working just fine so go on about your way.” (Source: AG’s reply to Buting)

This is a great example as to the wide-ranging motives behind MC’s efforts to frame SA and BD. Jerome Buting wrote this report completely independent of the Steven Avery case. As a result of his dealings and interactions with the Crime Lab, these egregious errors, irresponsible and unethical behavior, and unprofessional and complete mishandlings of evidence started to come to the surface. Now imagine a true investigation into the Crime Lab is done by some sort of Federal watchdog authority (or even the insurance claim adjusters) to determine how and why Avery was wrongfully convicted and further, why he remained in jail despite evidence in the crime lab's possession that went untested. How many convictions secured by evidence processed by SC and this Crime Lab now come under scrutiny? How many defense lawyers now see an opportunity to get their clients new trials or perhaps exonerations? How many? Well...here’s just a taste of what was/is going on in MC and the Crime Lab.

• WI detective Phil Charley can't remember who told him to destroy all the DNA evidence in a rape case in which the defendant had already been chosen.
• Neighboring county cops frame another man for murder.
• Prosecutors retrying a 1980 murder charge against Ralph Armstrong in Madison, WI cannot use the results of a DNA test on a key piece of evidence because the results were obtained in violation of a court order, a judge has ruled. Dane County Circuit Judge Daniel Moeser said the state acted in "bad faith" when it went ahead with the testing without notifying the defense and, in the process, used up the material - in violation of the judge's order.
• Manitowoc County circa 1991: Here's a case involving altered transcripts so the DAs could get a conviction.
• Wisconsin DA's caught attempting to win convictions against people who have done nothing wrong.
• DA purposely withholds evidence and witness testimony obtained and continues trial of innocent man. Conviction won.
• Veteran WI prosecutor found breaking numerous laws and codes of conduct, falsely imprisoning multiple innocent people, abusing power and lying in affidavits to cover his own mistakes

Do you think $36,000,000 was enough motive to commit a murder and frame someone else for it? I do. But $36,000,000 would have been the very beginning of exposing and bringing down a system propped up by corrupt elitists who feel they have every right to decide who gets tossed in prison for their entire lives regardless of evidence. (After all, they are god-fearing, white, Christian Americans who are waging war on “criminals” that “are pure evil” and “would eat their young to satisfy/justify a control issue.” The battle ground is a place “where the devil resides in comfort.”)(Source: MOK Email to BD “Defense” Attorney)

But never fear, they have a secret weapon in their war against Satan and his poisonous gene pools.
Sherry Calhoun and the Crime Lab.

To conclude, take a look at what happened in Houston when their Crime Lab and their version of Sherry Calhoun was exposed for nearly identical conduct:

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Scores-of-cases-affected-after-HPD-Crime-Lab-5562835.php

Steven Avery’s and Brendan Dassey’s cases and eventual exonerations will hopefully be just the beginning in what could be the greatest exposure of a broken and corrupt judicial system and the techniques used to imprison (and quite possibly murder) anyone who threatened their power and methods.
My overly insensitive response to those (mostly from Wisconsin) who are angry at MaM for not focusing enough on Teresa Halbach's life as the victim. 

by PotRoastPotato

I've seen a number of people stating that MaM didn't focus enough on Teresa Halbach as the victim. I've seen many say, "This should not have been made because it is unfair to the family."

Here is my overly insensitive response:

Making a Murderer is literally not about Teresa Halbach, nor should it be.

This documentary is about the trial after her murder.

Part of the problem with our criminal justice system is that we think "who the victim was", matters. I don't get to make these decisions, but I believe neither the prosecution nor the defense should be allowed to talk about the victim unless it directly relates to the crime. Because Teresa's character while alive has no bearing on the innocence or guilt of the defendant, and has no bearing on the evidence of the case.

If you (yes, you) were on trial for Teresa's murder, evoking all the sympathy in the world for Teresa doesn't have any bearing on your innocence or guilt. Right?

Whereas, the character of the police who investigated the crime, the character of the DA prosecuting the crime, have absolutely everything to do with reasonable doubt in the case: because if we can't trust the character of the people telling us the story about the crime, we can't trust anything they say, either.

Here is the reality of the situation: if you're Teresa's friend or a family member, her life story means everything to you. But it quite frankly has no bearing on the story of her murder trial.

This is the first true crime documentary that has ever gotten this right, to my knowledge. [EDIT: I apparently don't watch enough true crime documentaries.]

Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey are of more interest to the story because their involvement is material to the trial itself. But again, the story is much bigger than them. What is of true interest, the only thing that is any of our business, is the criminal justice process, and the ways this case strayed from the ideal.

Here are the reasons it is newsworthy to me, and this is why (it seems to me) some of you are angry at precisely the wrong people:

• Your police coerce an obviously unreliable confession from a mentally/intellectually disabled child.
• Your DA, who was supposed to bring Teresa's murderer to justice, makes a circus out of her trial by broadcasting and color commentating the false confession to the media.
• Your judge allows this confession into trial.

What happened in this case was quite possibly a second crime against the Halbach family, committed by the police and by the prosecution.

Because the reason this family nightmare is being revisited -- the reason the Halbachs have to relive this -- is due to apparent police/prosecutorial misconduct, their disregard for the Constitution, and their disregard for ethics while investigating the murder of their family member.

When a murderer commits murder, that is a tragedy. We have a criminal justice system to try to bring the murderer to justice and move on with life the best we can.

When the police and court system -- our protectors -- the "good guys" -- place themselves above the law, our criminal justice system must also try to bring them to justice; to hold them accountable. This struggle is much larger and more important within our society than any single murder case.

And the latter is what Making a Murderer is about, whether you like it or not.

I truly do feel for the Halbach family that their beloved Teresa's murder has become the modern example for this problem in our society. I truly do. Does this mean we should ignore the issue and allow it to continue unquestioned?

My answer is a resounding "No."

I truly feel for the family, but on a societal level this is much bigger than them.

[–]PotRoastPotato[S]

Sometimes stating facts elicits an emotional response. That does not discredit the facts.

I'm a former teacher who's been in the thick of Special Education for 30+ years (see below). My brother is mentally disabled and my mother and wife both work/worked in Special Education.

There is a trend the past 15-20 years to "mainstream" high-functioning disabled children like him. Sometimes this "mainstreaming" is good, sometimes not, but that is irrelevant here.

FWIW, I taught a number of mainstreamed ESE kids. There is no question that Dassey is mentally/intellectually disabled.

He was 16 years old, a minor (the legal term for "child") at the time. Hence, Dassey was a "mentally/intellectually disabled child" from whom the police apparently coerced a false confession.

[–]JJacks61 

I agree with you 99%. I'll get to the reason I do not completely agree later.

First I'd like to say you've nailed what many of us feel. The total screw-up of the investigation, and horrid behavior of some key players in this trial. However, there were some real unethical issues that happened prior to TH's murder. This in itself set the stage, at least to me for more unethical things to come.

Remember SA's lawsuit, and who was involved? This is was investigated, and it had a major impact. After it was clearly shown serious ethical incidents took place, the State's top dog, said they acted appropriately. Did nothing wrong. Got a pass. To say the least, I was stunned. Yes I understand if they had found wrong doings that would have given SA's lawsuit more teeth. It could have possibly triggered more scrutiny on the Manitowoc Police and DA's office.

Now again, excluding anything about the TH investigation, to me this set precedence for Manitowoc. It sent a very clear signal they could do any damn thing they (Police, Prosecutors) wanted, and get away with it. The WI DOJ were not going to do anything to them. Even after Ken Kratz was caught sexting a victim of domestic assualt, and his drug problems, he got little more than a smack. The DOJ KNEW about it for a year before it became public. What did they do? Buried it for as long as they could.

Len Kachenski still has his bar card.

I think what infuriates many of us is knowing that if we did what these two bastards were allowed to do, we would be at minimum, FIRED. The glaring indifference as to how we as a society treat those in the criminal justice system, whether they be a Cop, a Prosecutor or a defendant. One part of that system relies on the Police and those that pursue a case against someone MUST be held to a higher standard. Why? Because they have all the power. They have all the access. We must be able to trust them, otherwise the system breaks down.

Now about TH's family, especially the brother that spoke many times to the media. I don't know how they feel, none us do. But I do know what it's like to lose someone close. My 12 year old daughter died in November 2013 from complications of a bone marrow transplant. She was battling Leukemia and that was her last hope. Regardless, in times of grief we may do or say things that don't always make sense. I attribute some of what he said to the media to that, wanting answers. Regurgitating what Kratz was telling him. I personally think the judge should have gagged the Kratz. His pretrial press was out for one thing, and that was to convict Steve and Brendan months before the trail even started.

I also read last night that Mike and Teresa were cousins first, and then step-siblings. I have not verified that yet. If its true, does that fact change anything? To me, it changes the very nature of their relationship.
So yes, I agree, MaM is about more than Thersa's tragic death. And it's high time the eyes are on the justice system.

[–]skatoulaki 

Have to agree with you.

The thing is, if Steven Avery did commit this crime, and he goes on to be set free because the state and law enforcement so (obviously) screwed up the investigation and prosecution of him, then a huge disservice has been done to the Halbach family.

By the same token, if the state and law enforcement has the wrong people in prison for this crime, then a huge disservice has been done to the Halbach family and the Avery/Dassey families.

Regardless of the outcome of any appeals in these cases, it's fairly obvious from the docu-series that the state and law enforcement acted unprofessionally and in some instances unethically, and in that respect, a huge disservice has been done to the Halbach family, the Avery/Dassey families, and the citizens of not just Manitowoc County, but any part of the US where this case may be used as precedent in the prosecution of others.

[–]Dr_hu2u 

I felt Kratz press conference must have been horrible for family who thought it was true. So the DA was willing to assault the family with a sadistic description of her torture, rape, and murder as she begged for life. What kind of animal paints those images for victim's family to hear, knowing they are likely untrue.

[–]boblablaugh

I freely admit that I was duped by the press about this case. Some people aren't going to care because they think they have all the information they need because they saw it on the news but there really is no way of convincing anyone who is not willing to take a look at a situation through a different lens...

[–]JazzyButterfly

That really was well said. If the Sheriff's department had stayed out of the investigation, other suspects been investigated then there would not been such a large question over the reliability of the evidence. I'm sure they wanted to ensure a man they believed to be a murderer and a threat to society went to prison, but what they accomplished was to bring huge amount of doubt into the prosecution's case.

[–]MTLost 

Standing applause for this.

• Your Government works for you: I have been particularly struck by the fact the government officials have not acted in the best interest of the tax paying public, and they are not being held accountable.
  
  • They should to be held to a higher standard and right now, they all need a corrective action plan right quick followed by pink slips for failure to improve.
  • They were already under a magnifying glass in 2005, with obvious and public misconduct, and instead of working hard to ensure this never happened again, they simply worked harder to get Avery back in prison. This puts the public, their employers, at risk. I keep wondering about the lack of outrage over the real rapist running free in 1985 to create more victims the first time this happened. Think that might be true this time as well?
• Focus on Teresa is a magnet for victim blame: If the film makers had spent more time on humanizing Teresa, inevitably people will start attacking her as a person - victimizing her all over again. There is some of it already, when people say that she had no business going to the Avery's if she was really afraid of him.
  
  • She is indisputably the victim, having people trash her character because it was highlighted would be more hurtful to her family.
  • The Halbach family was given the same opportunity to engage in the film as the Avery family, and it would have been interesting to see how the filmmakers would have illustrated the consequences of the process and behavior of all involved on the family of the person for whom justice was being sought. The Halbach family declined, and that was respected IMO.

I felt your write up was actually very sensitive rather than being overly insensitive.

[–]lougalx 

I agree with what you said about the women who were attacked by Gregory Allen, and also for Penny who said that the day Avery was exonerated was worse than the day she was attacked, knowing she had sent an innocent man to prison and she couldn't face prosecuting Gregory again. Nobody wants Teresa's family to go through that all again and I think the misconduct of police and others has made that a real possibility. But it is the police and other officials who are to blame, not the filmmakers.

[–]drkgodess 

On the Dr Phil show, they had that Detective on who had said that it would be easier to kill Steven than to frame him. When asked if he felt remorse or that he needed to say sorry to the Avery family for the 18 years of wrongful conviction, he flat out said No in the most nonchalant way. I don't understand it.

If I had mistakenly taken something from someone as significant as 20 years of their life, I would feel horrible.

[–]Potsnu 

Exactly.

The problem with Kenneth Petersen who is now the Sheriff and the arresting officer for his rape charge, he still believes he's guilty. That you can fabricate DNA evidence....the same kind that exonerated Steven Avery.
Yet when you accuse of the County from doing the same....it is ridiculous to even suggest that.

[–]HugTreesSaveBees 

Not to mention killing him wouldn't have made the settlement or the investigation go away, because the case would just transfer to Steven's next of kin.

[–]headstilldown 

Thank you Mr. Pot Roast. Perhaps one of the most substantial points made on this whole case so far.
Anyone who has actually been close enough to any complicated murder case GETS THIS. They KNOW what types of things the prosecution team will do in order to make their case, be it factual or not.

Those who have had such a weight to carry (and it is heavier than perhaps people are aware) are far more concerned about how misconduct and ethics violations are abused with "story lines" in order to convict all while suppressing physical facts.

It's not about Avery Innocence or Guilt, it's now completely about how the prosecution machine always leaves things in such turmoil that no one can ever get to the real truth after they have left behind their wake.

[–]MarzipanWiley 

Documentaries like MaM, the Paradise Lost trilogy, Central Park Five, etc, are ipso facto about the victims. Whenever I see a documentary like this, my first instinct is always, "How cheap is life, that it's more important to get a conviction than to actually get the person who did it and prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt?" It remains true in the WM3 case, where the killer of three little boys is still walking around without ever having paid for his crime. It's the same in the Thomas Cogdell case. It's true in every single case where the "evidence" doesn't meet the burden of proof and where there's demonstrable coercion and tunnel vision on the part of law and law enforcement.

Even IF Steven Avery committed this murder (and I'm willing to leave a sliver of room for the possibility of that, as unlikely as it seems), it's too late to prosecute him. The prosecution and law enforcement created a timeline and scenario that defies all common sense and logic and with a truly unbiased jury, Avery would have been found Not Guilty because the state proved nothing. They can't suddenly prosecute under an entirely different theory ("She was actually killed in the woods, Brendan wasn't involved, etc") without looking like the complete idiots that we know them to be. So Teresa's death means nothing, either way.

If Steven didn't commit the murder (which I'm more inclined to believe, based upon the "evidence" the prosecution offered), then there's a murderer (or two) walking around out there, whistling Disney tunes and wondering how on earth he managed to get this lucky. In either scenario, Teresa, as a victim, died for nothing. Her life meant nothing. Her life wasn't even worth the time, trouble and energy of gathering evidence against anyone other than the person the MCSD hated with a seething passion. As horrible as this is, Teresa Halbach is collateral damage in a sick and long-standing vendetta against Steven Avery that started the second he drove his cousin off the road.

Teresa's deceased father was the father of four children?

Richard Urban Halbach
Birthdate:	August 23, 1956
Birthplace:	Kaukauna, Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States
Death:	Died April 7, 1988
Immediate Family:	Son of Cyril Paul Halbach and Regina Elizabeth Halbach Husband of <private> Halbach (Sekorski) Father of <private> Halbach; <private> Halbach; Teresa Halbach and <private> Halbach Brother of <private> Halbach; <private> Halbach and John Joseph Halbach
Managed by:	Jonathan Wolfson
Last Updated:	January 18, 2016

Find A Grave

Birth:	Aug. 23, 1956 Wisconsin, USA
Death:	Apr. 7, 1988 Brevard County Florida, USA
Husband of Karen Marie Sekorski. Father of Teresa M. Halbach (1980 - 2005.) Family links:  Parents:   Cyril P. Halbach (1920 - 1995)   Regina Elizabeth Jackels Halbach (1921 - 1985)  Children:   Teresa Marie Halbach (1980 - 2005)*  Sibling:   John Joseph Halbach (1948 - 1951)*   Richard Urban Halbach (1956 - 1988) *Calculated relationship
Burial: Saint John Catholic Cemetery Saint John Calumet County Wisconsin, USA
Created by: miss j foy Record added: Jan 07, 2016 Find A Grave Memorial# 156826464