Petitions seek pardon for murder convicts featured in Netflix series

After being incarcerated for 18 years, Avery was released from prison in September 2003 because new DNA evidence from the assault indicated that he was not the attacker.

Convicted killer Steven Avery, the subject of the Netflix documentary “Making a Murderer”, has quickly gained the support of thousands of people who are calling for him to be pardoned by President Barack Obama.

The ten-part “Making a Murderer” series did not include any interviews with the jurors who convicted Avery in 2007, but it did include comments from a juror who was excused from deliberations due to a family emergency.

“Our through line in the entire series really was a question of how is the American criminal justice system functioning?” According to the unnamed juror, “They feared for their personal safety”, Demos said on the Today Show. If it reaches 100,000 by January 19 the White House is required to respond.

Many say the new Netflix documentary series makes it clear that Avery is innocent of the newest crime for which he is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Whether it’s merely leaving unpleasant reviews on Yelp or starting petitions to free Avery, viewers of the series have become as enraged by the lack of justice for Avery as they are enraptured by the show.

Kratz claims that the “Making a Murderer” directors left out crucial evidence pointing to Avery’s guilt. Avery’s nephew, Brendan Dassey, was also arrested for his alleged involvement with the murder of Halbach, is seeking another appeal.

More specifically, the theory is that Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department’s Sgt. Andrew Colborn and Lt. James Lenk had it out for Avery based on his previous case, and that these two are personally responsible for framing Avery.

The Change.org petition calls Steven Avery’s treatment “unconstitutional” and demands his release, as well as the prosecution of “the Manitowoc County officials complicit in his two false imprisonments”.

“I hope (prosecutor) Ken Kratz gets slapped in the face by the cold hand of reality in the form of an incurable deadly virus”, one person posted on the website.