Saturday, November 12, 2005
Running the Numbers (part 2)
Back when I was a deputy district attorney in Denver (which is getting to be a long, long time ago), one of the sayings the Public Defenders threw around was: "Better that a hundred guilty go free than one innocent man be convicted." I didn't buy it. It seemed to me that justice would be equally offended by the guilty going free as by the innocent being convicted. Another reason is recidivism. Of the 100 guilty let free, how many would murder, rape or rob again? How many innocent victims are created by the release of 100 criminals? 100? 500? It's a terrible trade.
I bring it up because of this story in the Rocky Mountain News today, that a man, Steven Avery, released (after 18 years) in 2003 as innocent of a sexual assault, has been arrested for first degree murder of Teresa Halbach, 25, whose burned body (we believe) was discovered, along with her vehicle, in the Avery family salvage yard. Halbach's car had Avery's blood in it, and blood (as yet unidentified), spent casings, guns and Halbach's car keys were found in Avery's trailer. It don't look too good for Avery. If there are bullets in her burned body which match the guns and it's her blood in the trailer, Avery should be pretty much toast. This is Wisconsin though, which I don't believe has the death penalty, so it's merely a long time out for Avery if he's convicted.
Here is an incomplete list of the court records of this wrongfully convicted man.
1979-1980: Stopped for reckless driving, speeding and being a minor transporting an intoxicant. Accused of breaking into a bar in the town of Gibson and stealing two cases of beer, two sandwiches, a toolbox and $14 in quarters.
1981: Convicted of the two felony burglary charges, sentenced to two years in prison but sentence is stayed and he is placed on five years probation and ordered to spend 10 months in the Manitowoc County Jail and pay $1,399.85 in restitution.
1982: Allegedly pours gas and oil on a cat and throws it into a bonfire. Charged with cruelty to animals, resulting in revocation of probation on burglary case. Ordered to serve the two-year prison sentence that had been stayed.
1982: Convicted and sentenced to nine months in jail in cat-burning case.
January 1985: Allegedly forces the wife of a part-time Manitowoc County sheriff's deputy off the road, points a rifle at her but stops when he sees her infant daughter in the car. Convicted of endangering safety and a felon possessing a firearm. Sentenced to six years in prison.
July 29, 1985: A 36-year-old Manitowoc woman is beaten and sexually assaulted as she jogs along the Lake Michigan shore north of Two Rivers. She later identifies Avery as the assailant through photographs and a live lineup.
Dec. 14, 1985: Avery is convicted of attempted first-degree homicide, first-degree sexual assault and false imprisonment, despite testimony of numerous witnesses that he was at his parents' home and with his wife and five children in Green Bay at the time of the crime.March 10, 1986: Sentenced to 32 years in prison by Circuit Judge Fred Hazlewood, with the previous six-year term to run concurrently.
1987: His wife files for divorce.
1996: Hazlewood denies request for a new trial based on new tests showing scrapings under the victim's fingernails do not contain Avery's DNA.
1997: The 2nd District Court of Appeals upholds Hazlewood's decision.
2002: Hazlewood grants a request from the Wisconsin Innocence Project for new DNA testing, citing advances in the technology.
Sept. 10, 2003: State Crime Lab tests on 13 hairs recovered from the rape victim find that one is a match implicating a man already imprisoned in a Brown County rape case. Hazlewood orders Avery's release.
Sept. 11, 2003: Avery is freed from prison.
Dec. 19, 2003: State Department of Justice report on handling of the Avery case concludes breakdown in communication between Manitowoc law enforcement departments contributed to Avery's 1985 conviction. It finds no basis to bring criminal charges or ethics violations against those involved.
Early 2004: Avery files $36 million lawsuit against Manitowoc County officials for wrongful conviction.
June 20, 2004: Stopped for speeding, Avery writes in letter to district attorney, "I spent 18 years of my life in prison for a crime I didn't commit and I can't even get a warning the first time I get pulled over?" Speeding charge reduced to speedometer violation; pays $193.40 fine.
Sept. 9, 2004: Charged with disorderly conduct.
Dec. 2, 2004: Awarded $25,000, the maximum financial compensation allowed under state law, and legal fees by the Wisconsin Claims Board.
March 2, 2005: Pleads no contest to disorderly conduct; pays $243 fine.
Nov. 9, 2005: Charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. Authorities say two guns were found during search of his residence regarding the disappearance Oct. 31 of 25-year-old photographer Teresa Marie Halbach, who had a business appointment with Avery that afternoon. Her vehicle was found Nov. 5 on his family's land west of Mishicot.
Nov. 10, 2005: Authorities say the remains of an unidentified adult woman were found on the land owned by Avery's family.
I bring it up because of this story in the Rocky Mountain News today, that a man, Steven Avery, released (after 18 years) in 2003 as innocent of a sexual assault, has been arrested for first degree murder of Teresa Halbach, 25, whose burned body (we believe) was discovered, along with her vehicle, in the Avery family salvage yard. Halbach's car had Avery's blood in it, and blood (as yet unidentified), spent casings, guns and Halbach's car keys were found in Avery's trailer. It don't look too good for Avery. If there are bullets in her burned body which match the guns and it's her blood in the trailer, Avery should be pretty much toast. This is Wisconsin though, which I don't believe has the death penalty, so it's merely a long time out for Avery if he's convicted.
Here is an incomplete list of the court records of this wrongfully convicted man.
1979-1980: Stopped for reckless driving, speeding and being a minor transporting an intoxicant. Accused of breaking into a bar in the town of Gibson and stealing two cases of beer, two sandwiches, a toolbox and $14 in quarters.
1981: Convicted of the two felony burglary charges, sentenced to two years in prison but sentence is stayed and he is placed on five years probation and ordered to spend 10 months in the Manitowoc County Jail and pay $1,399.85 in restitution.
1982: Allegedly pours gas and oil on a cat and throws it into a bonfire. Charged with cruelty to animals, resulting in revocation of probation on burglary case. Ordered to serve the two-year prison sentence that had been stayed.
1982: Convicted and sentenced to nine months in jail in cat-burning case.
January 1985: Allegedly forces the wife of a part-time Manitowoc County sheriff's deputy off the road, points a rifle at her but stops when he sees her infant daughter in the car. Convicted of endangering safety and a felon possessing a firearm. Sentenced to six years in prison.
July 29, 1985: A 36-year-old Manitowoc woman is beaten and sexually assaulted as she jogs along the Lake Michigan shore north of Two Rivers. She later identifies Avery as the assailant through photographs and a live lineup.
Dec. 14, 1985: Avery is convicted of attempted first-degree homicide, first-degree sexual assault and false imprisonment, despite testimony of numerous witnesses that he was at his parents' home and with his wife and five children in Green Bay at the time of the crime.March 10, 1986: Sentenced to 32 years in prison by Circuit Judge Fred Hazlewood, with the previous six-year term to run concurrently.
1987: His wife files for divorce.
1996: Hazlewood denies request for a new trial based on new tests showing scrapings under the victim's fingernails do not contain Avery's DNA.
1997: The 2nd District Court of Appeals upholds Hazlewood's decision.
2002: Hazlewood grants a request from the Wisconsin Innocence Project for new DNA testing, citing advances in the technology.
Sept. 10, 2003: State Crime Lab tests on 13 hairs recovered from the rape victim find that one is a match implicating a man already imprisoned in a Brown County rape case. Hazlewood orders Avery's release.
Sept. 11, 2003: Avery is freed from prison.
Dec. 19, 2003: State Department of Justice report on handling of the Avery case concludes breakdown in communication between Manitowoc law enforcement departments contributed to Avery's 1985 conviction. It finds no basis to bring criminal charges or ethics violations against those involved.
Early 2004: Avery files $36 million lawsuit against Manitowoc County officials for wrongful conviction.
June 20, 2004: Stopped for speeding, Avery writes in letter to district attorney, "I spent 18 years of my life in prison for a crime I didn't commit and I can't even get a warning the first time I get pulled over?" Speeding charge reduced to speedometer violation; pays $193.40 fine.
Sept. 9, 2004: Charged with disorderly conduct.
Dec. 2, 2004: Awarded $25,000, the maximum financial compensation allowed under state law, and legal fees by the Wisconsin Claims Board.
March 2, 2005: Pleads no contest to disorderly conduct; pays $243 fine.
Nov. 9, 2005: Charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. Authorities say two guns were found during search of his residence regarding the disappearance Oct. 31 of 25-year-old photographer Teresa Marie Halbach, who had a business appointment with Avery that afternoon. Her vehicle was found Nov. 5 on his family's land west of Mishicot.
Nov. 10, 2005: Authorities say the remains of an unidentified adult woman were found on the land owned by Avery's family.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 7:46 AM 
