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Former prosecutor says Avery documentary unfair

By: Associated Press//December 27, 2015//

Former prosecutor says Avery documentary unfair

By: Associated Press//December 27, 2015//

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The prosecutor who put Steven Avery in prison for killing a young photographer says a Netflix documentary chronicling the case is slanted toward the defense.

Avery made headlines in 2003 when he was released from prison after spending nearly two decades behind bars for a rape he didn’t commit. Two years later, Avery was charged with killing Teresa Halbach, a freelance photographer who visited the Avery family salvage yard to take photos of cars on Halloween and was never seen alive again.

A jury convicted Avery of first-degree intentional homicide and he was sentenced to life in prison.

WLUK-TV reports that filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos condensed hundreds of hours of footage into 10 one-hour episodes of the “Making a Murderer” series. The documentary features Avery’s defense attorneys suggesting police planted evidence to frame Avery.

Ken Kratz, the special prosecutor in the case, said the filmmakers never gave him a chance to answer the defense attorneys’ allegations. He said the documentary ignores up to 90 percent of the physical evidence that links Avery to the homicide.

He said Netflix should give him an opportunity to tell his side of the story.

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“Anytime you edit 18 months’ worth of information and only include the statements or pieces that support your particular conclusion, that conclusion should be reached,” Kratz said.

He added that he’s received dozens of threats and insults over the documentary.

“Suggestions that I shouldn’t even be walking around was offered, the good cheer that I happen to develop stomach cancer for Christmas and really lots of really troubling pieces of correspondence,” he said.

The series’ producers told WLUK that Kratz was given opportunities to speak with them and they tried to show all viewpoints.

“We believe the series is representative of what we witnessed,” Demos said. “The key pieces of the state’s evidence are included in the series.”

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