OPINION: 'Making A Murderer’: Avery Absolutely Guilty But Dassey Innocent

— -- Dan Abrams is ABC News' legal analyst. This article originally appeared on his new law and crime site. Opinions expressed below are solely those of the author.

Not since the O.J. Simpson case brought the nation to a virtual standstill, has the American public so fiercely and antagonistically debated facts, procedures and testimony in a state murder trial (who knew we could have another high profile battle over EDTA?) From the cover of People Magazine to daily coverage on cable news programs, to offices around America, the question dominating our discourse seems to be whether Steven Avery killed Teresa Halbach on Oct. 31, 2005. The fallout from the 10 part docu-series so intense that many have taken to social media and elsewhere to lambaste and even threaten the prosecutor from the case.

Filmmakers Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi have created a compelling and well-produced piece of advocacy intended to lead viewers to conclude that Avery, who previously served 18 years for a rape he did not commit, is innocent of this crime as well, or at least that the system failed him miserably. Each episode begins with old pictures of little boy Steven and much of the series focuses on his defense team’s efforts and strategy as well as Avery’s heartbroken family.

Much of the country now divided over whether “they” did it — they, being Avery and his then sixteen-year-old nephew Brendan Dassey who eventually confessed to sexually assaulting Halbach and aiding Avery in the murder. Pro-prosecution “law and order” types tend to highlight evidence against Avery and inevitably lump in Dassey based on his statements to police, while the filmmakers and those inclined to accept Avery’s account also seek to conflate the two cases by inferring that Avery’s miscarriage of justice led to a second inequity when Dassey falsely admitted to committing the crime with Avery.

The reality is likely more nuanced but equally troubling.

The Avery Evidence

The facts against Avery remain overwhelming. Teresa Halbach was at Avery’s property to take photographs for an auto magazine, he was her final appointment of the day and there is no evidence she ever left the property. Avery was the last confirmed person to see her alive.

Let’s pause here for a moment. That would, in the mind of any police officer with a modicum of common sense, make Avery a serious suspect right off the bat. Then her car was found at the Avery family auto salvage yard, his blood and sweat (or some other non-blood DNA) detected in, and on her car, her charred remains discovered on his property, her car key with his DNA (not blood) found at his home and a bullet with her DNA identified in his garage.

The only other case I can recall with this kind of bounty of physical evidence against a defendant where any substantial portion of the public (or a jury for that matter) believed in innocence was, well, O.J. Simpson. And like the Simpson case, there is only one way the defense can explain away that sort of glut of incriminating details, by claiming it was planted by corrupt police officers. But at least in the Simpson case, they had some, albeit far-fetched, explanation for each item of incriminating evidence. Each piece, they argued meticulously, was either planted by shrewd and cunning police officers or mishandled and contaminated by the same team of officers who were simultaneously inept buffoons.