Juror in Avery Case: Feared for 'Life" and Voted 'Guilty,' Believes Avery Was "Framed"

Wisconsin fiends make national news,
they wear a badge.

Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos appeared on the Today Show (Stump) yesterday and announced a juror had contacted them after viewing the film series, Making a Murderer (on Netflix), and said she or he had cast a guilty vote because out of fear “for their own safety.”

Said co-exec producer Ricciardi: "(The juror) told us that they believe Steven Avery was not proven guilty. [The juror] believe(s) Steven was framed by law enforcement and that he deserves a new trial, and if he receives a new trial, in their opinion it should take place far away from Wisconsin."

Amen.

Reports Scott Stump:

There was behind-the-scenes vote-trading going on during the trial,the juror told the filmmakers, and the verdicts on each count were 'a compromise.'

'That was the actual word the juror used and went on to describe the jurors ultimately trading votes in the jury room and explicitly discussing, "If you vote guilty on this count, I will vote not guilty on this count," Ricciardi said.

One hopes the wrongfully convicted and the police-prosecutor state become the topic of news reports repeatedly.

Juror misconduct of this nature is grounds for a new trial, experts say.

The series also shows multiple instances of prosecutorial misconduct by law enforcement personnel, not pointed out, under Wisconsin Supreme Court rules governing attorney ethics.

For example: Wisconsin Supreme Court Rule [SCR 20:3.6 Trial publicity], stating: "(a) A lawyer who is participating or has participated in the investigation or litigation of a matter shall not make an extrajudicial statement that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know will be disseminated by means of public communication and will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding in the matter."

And more broadly, Misconduct in Public Office:

Any public officer or public employee who does any of the following is guilty of a Class I felony:
946.12(1)
(1) Intentionally fails or refuses to perform a known mandatory, nondiscretionary, ministerial duty of the officer's or employee's office or employment within the time or in the manner required by law; or
(2) In the officer's or employee's capacity as such officer or employee, does an act which the officer or employee knows is in excess of the officer's or employee's lawful authority or which the officer or employee knows the officer or employee is forbidden by law to do in the officer's or employee's official capacity; or
(3) Whether by act of commission or omission, in the officer's or employee's capacity as such officer or employee exercises a discretionary power in a manner inconsistent with the duties of the officer's or employee's office or employment or the rights of others and with intent to obtain a dishonest advantage for the officer or employee or another; or
(4) In the officer's or employee's capacity as such officer or employee, makes an entry in an account or record book or return, certificate, report or statement which in a material respect the officer or employee intentionally falsifies; or
(5) Under color of the officer's or employee's office or employment, intentionally solicits or accepts for the performance of any service or duty anything of value which the officer or employee knows is greater or less than is fixed by law.

Stay tuned. Ken Kratz and these other lousy bastards in Manitowoc County may get what's coming to them.