An attorney who represented “Making a Murderer” subject Steven Avery during Avery’s murder trial tears into prosecutor Ken Kratz in his new book, saying that Kratz came off as “smarmy and fake” during the trial.
In his book “Illusion of Justice,” out Tuesday, Jerry Buting said that he had a friendly enough relationship with former Calumet County district attorney Kratz at first, but that changed once Avery’s trial began.
“During the months leading up to the trial, Ken Kratz and I had been civil, even cordial, with each other. But once the jury was sworn in, his cordiality vanished,” Buting recalled in an excerpt published by EW.com.
In the excerpt, Buting admitted that Kratz’s technique for questioning witnesses “got under my skin.”
“The mannerisms of another lawyer are usually not really of great moment for me, but I have to acknowledge that Ken Kratz’s approach to questioning witnesses got under my skin,” the excerpt reads. “When any civilian witness testified, he would soften his voice and make a conspicuous effort to appear gentler, more tender, as if he were so sorry that the defense was making them suffer through a trial and the ordeal of testifying in court.”
“Perhaps he thought this would make him seem like a good guy to the jury, but it struck me as smarmy and fake,” Buting continued. “A criminal investigation and prosecution is not a popularity contest. A professional approach to the circumstances is not demonstrating callousness to the survivors of a crime but rather the ethical duty of police and prosecutors. Not letting his manner bug me was part of my duty, I realized, so I did my best to filter him and concentrate on what the jury was hearing and seeing.”
Buting and his colleague Dean Strang defended Avery during the trial, at which Avery was ultimately found guilty of murdering photographer Teresa Halbach.
Avery’s case was taken up by attorney Kathleen Zellner after the Netflix docu-series “Making a Murderer” caused outrage among viewers who felt that Avery might have been wrongfully convicted.
'Making a Murderer': What's Changed for Steven Avery, Brendan Dassey Since Series Debut 1 Year Ago (Photos)
"Making a Murderer" chronicled the murder of Teresa Halbach and the subsequent trials of suspects Brendan Dassey and Steven Avery.
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Steven Avery Since the documentary's debut, Avery hired Kathleen Zellner, a lawyer who specializes in wrongful convictions. She filed a motion in August to retest evidence in the case and has been keeping fans up to date with any progress pertaining to it.
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Avery's fame due to the documentary also attracted a "gold digger," according to Avery. In October, it was announced he was engaged to a woman named Lynn Hartman (note: he's still in prison) but later found out she was "in this relationship for money and publicity," his former fiancee Sandra Greenman wrote on Facebook.
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The Avery Family Carla Chase, Avery's niece and spokesperson for the Avery family, tells TheWrap: "The family never expected how the documentary would go world wide and how it has affected everyone. The support is great. I can only speak for myself on how it has changed my life, even tho it has changed all our lives with the outpouring of support."
She is one of the admins of the Steven Avery & Brendan Dassey Project, a family discussion Facebook page which has over 21,000 members.
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Brendan Dassey Since the documentary's debut, Dassey's life admittedly changed the most. His conviction was overturned in August (which the state appealed), and then news broke that Dassey would be released. However, the Wisconsin DOJ filed an emergency motion to keep Dassey in prison.
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Len Kachinsky Fans of the Netflix show “Making a Murderer” haven’t held their tongues in criticizing Brendan Dassey’s lawyer, Len Kachinsky, and his strategies during the juvenile’s initial defense, but the public defender still insists nothing he did had any effect on the outcome of Dassey’s case.
“Frankly, I’m not responsible for Dassey going to prison,” Kachinsky, who is no longer involved with the case, told TheWrap in January. “You can say I made a mistake, that I should’ve [attended] or I should have rescheduled the interview — that’s valid criticism.”
Kachinsky declined to comment for this story.
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Ken Kratz Following the debut of the series, Avery's prosecutor Ken Kratz was bashed on Yelp to warn potential new clients checking his law practice’s Yelp page against hiring him.
“Mr. Kratz is a seasoned sexual harasser, with deep knowledge of abuse victims which he took advantage of. He has a long experience in evidence fabrication, and has the required strategic thought skills to send innocent men to jail for forged crimes,” one man wrote in a Yelp review.
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Kratz also told Dr. Drew that he had suicidal thoughts after “this whole thing kind of blew up,” referring to the Avery Case and an Associated Press report exposing racy texts he sent to a 25-year-old woman while Kratz was prosecuting her ex-boyfriend.
Kratz also published a tell-all book chronicling the Avery case and its depiction in "Making a Murderer."
Kratz did not respond to TheWrap's request for comment for this story.
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Manitowoc Police Department In the documentary, the Manitowoc Police Department is over heavy scrutiny, with many alleging that its officers framed Avery for the murder.
Since the series debut, there were protests in front of the police department, and a bomb threat was called into the office in February. Authorities said that the caller claimed “there were bombs in the building” and that he was “getting justice” for Steven Avery. The area was deemed clear, but a second call was made 20 minutes later -- but no devices were found either.
A spokesperson for the Manitowoc Police Department has not yet responded to TheWrap's request for comment.
Manitowoc Police
Netflix The show was a success for Netflix -- In July, the streaming platform announced additional episodes which will chronicle Avery and Dassey's respective investigative and legal teams challenging their convictions.
Netflix has not yet responded to TheWrap's request for comment.
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See how the Netflix documentary impacted the lives of Avery, Dassey, their families and their legal teams
"Making a Murderer" chronicled the murder of Teresa Halbach and the subsequent trials of suspects Brendan Dassey and Steven Avery.
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