Testimony Notes 27 Feb 2007

Nick Stahlke, state crime lab scientist, continued his testimony. He stated that the amount of blood needed to leave the Avery blood evidence in the Halbach vehicle was less than one milliliter.

The prosecution established that there were fires in the fire barrel and the fire pit behind Steven Avery’s garage on 31 October, 2005. This IS consistent with statements which Avery made to investigators.

Blaine Dassey, Avery’s nephew, testified about seeing fire the evening of 31 October, 2005. He appeared to have some memory problems. First, he testified that he saw Steven Avery at the fire barrel and then he saw a person but could not say who.

He also testified that his brother Bobbie was sleeping, and he played video games with Brendan. This is in contrast to Bobbie Dassey’s testimony about hunting. This also contradicts Ken Kratz’s televised tale of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey raping and murdering Halbach at the same time as the brothers were together.

Dean Strang established that investigators harassed Blaine to attempt to get answers investigator’s wanted rather than conducting an impartial investigation.

Blaine admitted that initially he did not state there was a fire. It was only after law enforcement officers accosted him and his mother in a restaurant that he agreed to the statement. The investigators behaved in a belligerent and angry manner, including loud raised voices and name calling. If any of us mere mortals had behaved similarly, we would be arrested and charged with at least disorderly conduct.

Ken Kratz attempted to have Dassey state that he feared testifying before his uncle. Blaine Dassey said he was not afraid. He said his uncle ordered him and his brothers around, and for that reason he feared his uncle.

Scott Tadych, Avery’s brother-in-law, testified that he saw Bobbie Dassey drive toward Taydch’s home in the afternoon of October 31. This corroborates Bobby Dassey’s account of his events on Halloween, 2005. Bobby Dassey has testified that he saw his mother’s boyfriend (Tadych) driving toward the Salvage Yard.

Tadych also testified that he saw flames eight to ten feet high by Avery’s garage that evening. He also stated he saw Avery near the fire. However, this contradicted his earlier statements to investigators about the fire. Either the flames grew in his memory, or they were enhanced by police and prosecutor interviews.

The folks at WLUK television stated that Avery’s relatives testified against him. Actually, they were called as prosecution witnesses about burning the night of 31 October, 2005. But, this corroborates Avery’s statement as well. No doubt, the prosecution wants the jury to believe that family members will lie about their own, however that is a myth. There was no reason to lie about the fire.

Both Dassey and Tadych stated they did not hear screams, cries for help, or gunshots on that night. Again, this is contrary to the Brendan Dassey confession.

A friend of Avery’s brother, testified that in the afternoon, about 17:20, he was aware of a fire in Avery’s fire barrel because of acrid smoke. He stated it smelled like burning plastic. I’m not sure what this does to the prosecution timeline, but it does again contradict the Brendan Dassey confession. The friend heard no screams, cries or gunshots.

The final bit of testimony generated much controversy. The prosecution called two local representatives of cell phone companies. Ken Kratz appeared to want the two to testify in a specific order. However because of issues of person one testifying about person two’s company records that was thwarted. There was a series of calls documented on 31 October, 2005. The intent was to show that Avery had used an origination blocking feature for some calls, and the telephone was powered down around 4:45 P.M. on 31 October 2005.

But, the defense noted that Halbach’s voice mail account had been accessed between 31 October and 3 November, the day she was reported missing. The voice mail account required a password for access unless the access was made from the customer’s cell phone.

Special Prosecutor Kratz complained that defense attorney Buting was claiming that Halbach was still alive. Buting was showing that there was evidence on someone accessing the account while Avery was in jail and investigators had not followed up.