[MTVN]

Got all through ten eps of this in the last couple of days, one of the most fascinating and disturbing things I've ever seen. Sometimes easy to forget how recently it happened because these small town American sheriff departments being so dodgy and unaccountable is the sort of thing you expect to have been the case back in the 60s or 70s. I'm sorta conscious of relying on the documentary alone to make a judgement though so will have to read up on some stuff later (although I do think the documentary alone shows that neither of the trials were at all fair). In a way I wonder if the film makers should have released it a lot earlier so that it could have come to worldwide attention before they've both rotted in jail for nearly ten years, imagine their chances of a retrial are a lot stronger now and that there's a lot more lawyers/innocence projects interested in taking on the cases.

I agree that Brendan's treatment was more disturbing in many ways as well, especially by his supposed lawyer and that investigator. Seems like his second lawyers for the main trial actually missed quite a few tricks as well; sometimes they seemed really competent but its strange that they agreed to cut the video confession short and that they were never aware of or never made it clear how Brendan was pretty much forced into making that drawing. Or did they present that and they just didn't show it in the documentary?

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Another thing that really bugs me: when the judge is summing up at the sentencing hearing... He talks about Avery's "past crimes", and the fact that his crimes have been of "increasing severity" and that's why he's so dangerous.

He is quite clearly not talking about the cat incident. He is talking about the attempted rape. A crime that, legally, and conclusively, was not committed by Avery. Very, very odd. Is the judge suggesting that he WAS involved? Has he simply forgotten that that conviction was overturned? That someone else is in prison for it?

Yeah that got me as well. Saying his crimes got worse as he got older? The guy had only been free two years after spending 18 inside for a crime he hadn't committed, how can you use that as a basis for handing down a longer sentence.