The AG (Attorney General’s) Avery Report – Introduction
After Steven Avery’s release from prison 11 September, 2003, based upon the discovery of wrongful conviction, Wisconsin’s Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager, ordered an investigation to determine if any wrongdoing had occurred during the charging, investigation, trial, and conviction of Steven Avery. A memorandum dated December 17, 2003 was then published.(1) This memorandum is referred to in this series as the AG Report.
This series will examine the AG Report to examine the reasonability of key conclusions about suspects; then examine the court cases and reviews the report used to justify investigative practices and prosecutorial assumptions; and conclude with the excuses and conclusions published by the Attorney General.
The report was difficult to follow due to the disjointed presentation of findings. The scattered information was sometimes contrary to the conclusions of the report. For example, one conclusion was that city police and county sheriff’s departments did not readily share information. Yet, this sharing of information does appear in the report, but in several different locations. And, information shared between departments was valid and useful. The departments did not get credit for the communication.
The report does not have page numbers. The references used here will use section outline numbers used in the report followed by the paragraph number of the section. So the reference (IV-14) would refer to paragraph fourteen of section 4.
Background
On July 29, 1985 a vicious sexual assault took place along the Lake Michigan shoreline north of Two Rivers, Wisconsin. The victim was taken to the hospital where Manitowoc she was treated and interviewed.
Manitowoc County Sheriff Tom Kocourek personally directed and took part in the investigation until completion of Steven Avery’s trial. Avery was sentenced to thirty-two years in state prison.
Avery was released in September, 2003, when Gregory A. Allen was tied to the assault. Allen had a history of sexually oriented crimes. He had attempted a similar attack in the same area of the July assault. Allen was in the area at the time of the crime.
References
December 17, 2003
Memorandum Wisconsin Department of Justice – Steven Avery Wrongful Conviction
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by Brian McCorkle
in category Steven Avery
