Making a Mockery of the justice system.

• Author: Izadi, Melody

The new Netflix obsession, Making a Murderer, is a sensation. Blogs, news programs, articles, magazines, newspapers and water cooler conversations are all immersed in the quest to answer the eternal question: did he do it?

The evidence seems to point in both directions. The Netflix documentary itself shines heavy light on the absurdity and outrageousness of the prosecution against Steven Avery. It's hard to walk away from viewing the documentary and not be fairly certain that the police officers engaged in at least some miscarriages of justice, and at least had some hand in what and how evidence was found in the case. To put it in simple terms, the evidence against the officers and the portions of the trial included in the documentary clearly highlighted that the police were, at the very least, being sketchy. Suddenly finding the victim's car key in plain view after numerous searches, with none of the victim's DNA but some of the accused's DNA, is extremely suspicious, if not an obvious indication that the evidence was planted. As Steven's trial lawyers pointed out in the documentary, if the police are willing to plant the key, what else would they be capable of fabricating?

Then we have the post-documentary backlash from prosecutor Ken Kratz and others, reporting that many important and compelling pieces of evidence were omitted from the documentary. For instance, there is the alleged fact that Avery had phoned the victim's place of business several times that day and specifically requested her attendance on his property.

Steven Avery's ex-fiance Jodi Stachowski, who was also featured in Making a Murderer when the two were dating, has reported to media that Avery tied her to a bed with rope and wanted to have sex with her while she was restrained. On that basis she thinks Brandon Dassey's statement to police containing details of the victim's sexual assault was truthful. She's also gone public with a letter apparently sent to her from Avrey in an attempt to cast light on the "real" Steven Avery that isn't shown in the documentary.

All of this information, and much more, guides opinions and sparks debate and curiosity. Based on media alone, most people have decided whether or not he did it. People feel certain in their conclusions and either condemn or commend the justice system. Those who believe he's innocent sign petitions, protest, and relentlessly support Steven's appeal on the basis that he is innocent. Those who believe he's guilty...