Luke McKenzie
Criminal Investigation
Steven Avery
4/19/2016
At the young age of 22 Steven Avery was wrongfully convicted of rape. Avery spent almost 20 years in prison, prior to being exonerated. Avery was convicted, and sentences to 32 years in prison on September 14, 1985. He was released from prison September 10, 2003. Avery’s conviction was based solely on eyewitness testimony. Little to no investigation was conducted in this case, and Avery was denied some of his most basic rights upon his initial imprisonment. Although Steven Avery was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, he was not all that innocent prior to his conviction. According to www.stevenaverytrial.com, Avery was convicted of numerous crimes prior to being sentenced to his 32 years for rape. Avery had a lengthy criminal history. In October of 1980 Avery was charged with two counts of burglary for breaking into a bar. While in the bar Steven stole two packs of beer, two cheese sandwiches and $14.00 in quarters. After these charges Avery plead “no contest” to charges of dousing the family cat with gasoline and oil and tossing it in an open fire. For this crime Avery was charged with
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Of the witness’s one was the clerk of a story in Green Bay, WI who stated that Avery and his five children were buying paint at around 1700 that day. A receipt was also presented, showing that Avery was present in Green Bay on that day at 1713. Innocenceproject.org says in order for Steven to have been the perpetrator of this attack “Avery would have had to leave the scene of the attack, walk a mile to the nearest parking area, drive home, load his family into the car, and drive 45 miles in just over an hour.” The witnesses testifying for Avery’s whereabouts during the attack should have been grounds enough for further