Yahoo News How Kratz's "false" claims could exonerate Steven Avery
Note: This article contains spoilers for Making a Murderer Part 2
Making a Murderer fans might be divided about a lot of things: Steven Avery's guilt, Brendan Dassey's 'coerced' confession and the question of whether the blood was actually planted –seriously, please somebody tell us.
But one thing that viewers appear to collectively agree on is Ken Kratz. To put it politely, the lawyer is not a popular man.
Related: Making a Murderer director Laura Ricciardi reveals what they weren't allowed to film
Having acted as the special prosecutor in the case that convicted Avery of the murder of Teresa Halbach in 2007, Kratz has been a particularly vocal critic of the Making a Murderer documentary series.
After Part 1 arrived on Netflix in 2015, he gave a number of interviews blasting what, in his view, was a one-sided film – even going as far as to claim that he was not contacted for comment or interview until after the documentary was completed. This is something that filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos have denied strenuously.
Back for Part 2 of the Netflix true-crime hit – which picks up where Part 1 left off, following the post-conviction defence teams on their quest to overturn what they believe to be wrongful convictions – the directors revealed that Kratz's narrative about their work is absolutely false.
"What he [Kratz] says is demonstrably false," Ricciardi told Digital Spy. "He said the first time we reached out to him was 2013. Well, there's a letter that I wrote to him in 2006 that's in the case file. So you know, it's demonstrably false."
The filmmakers then made a subtle change to their second instalment, detailing the names of every person they had reached out to but had refused to take part at the end of each episode.
But the directors aren't the only ones to have made complaints about the former prosecutor's claims. In fact, it's become clear that Kratz's behaviour could even have an impact on Avery's appeals process.
Despite stepping down as District Attorney in 2010, Kratz has continued to spend the last nine years speaking publicly about the Avery case, footage of which has been incorporated into Making a Murderer Part 2.
In episode six we see Kratz hold a press conference outside of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, where Brendan Dassey's case was being heard by a number of judges.
Dassey's post-conviction lawyers criticised this move heavily, stating that it went against the "elevated" and "dignified" nature of the legal process.
"If he wants to hold a press conference, we all know about his press conferences, if he wants to do that [he should] do it on his turf," Massey's attorney Steven Drizin said. "Don't come into the federal district court... and soil the process."
Kratz has also given multiple interviews to news outlets over the years, continuing to make claims that aren't always grounded in fact, according to Avery's new legal team.
During Part 2 of the docu-series, Avery's new lawyer, Kathleen Zellner, said: "I think that it's really unprecedented that Mr. Kratz, in 2017, is still on some type of active character-assassination tour."
Zellner acknowledges certain allegations in Avery's past, but says: "[Kratz is] talking about crimes that he wishes Steven Avery had been charged and convicted of. But he wasn't. And I think it is going to come back to haunt him."
She added that Kratz had "certainly gone from being just in incredibly bad taste to doing things that are unethical", claiming that his words could be seen as "interfering in Mr. Avery's efforts to have a court reexamine constitutional violations".
"He's like a moth to the flame," Zellner said. "He just cannot stay away from the case. And the more he talks, the more ammunition he's giving us. Because he's made so many statements that are just false."
Zellner's law partner, Doug Johnson, can also be seen discussing the concept of a "prosecutor's duty of silence" and how Kratz's behaviour could give precedent to bring an ethical violation as a claim.
During a televised interview, which was also included in the documentary, Kratz revealed that he isn't afraid of Zellner's ability to "unravel" his work in convicting Avery.
But it seems that he may actually be assisting in doing this himself.
Making a Murderer Part 1 and Part 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
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