I grew up in WI, in Sheboygan County, and my family still lives there. I was a junior in high school during this trial, and remember the coverage of it, which was non-stop. My parents both followed the trial extremely closely (like a lot of people in the area did) and up until this documentary came out, I had no doubt of Avery's guilt, and from what I have gathered from friends, family, and acquaintances who still live in the area, most people don't doubt Avery's guilt either. Of the people I have talked to in the last few days while home for the holidays, people are more willing to be sympathetic and doubtful of Dassey's guilt or involvement. When Avery was convicted, people weren't really surprised. There was a lot of negative opinions about the Avery family prior to any of this happening, and while some of it is certainly just small town gossip, Avery did spend time in prison for throwing a cat in a fire, and he did assault a relative w. a firearm. IIRC, his brother's also had served time in prison. Obviously none of this makes him guilty of the Halbach murder, but I'm just trying to give some context into why local opinion of Avery is the way it was.
I'm currently a law student, and from a legal perspective, I wish this documentary would have focused more on Dassey. Avery had great attorneys (better than many defendants get) and he had as fair a trial as could be expected given the media coverage. Just because Avery's case was covered non-stop in the media doesn't mean a jury would be unable to find him not guilty- both OJ Simpson, Casey Anthony, and George Zimmerman are just a few examples of that. All the evidence presented by the documentary was presented to the jury, and they still found him guilty. Dassey, however, gave a confession that someone w. no legal training should be able to see as garbage and coerced. He was a 16 year old CHILD of clearly lower intelligence, who coached and guided not only by the investigators but his own ATTORNEY into giving confessions that didn't make sense w. the evidence. While the investigators behavior is reprehensible, his attorney's is deplorable. Most adults of average to above average intelligence would be scared and confused and in need of guidance when on trial for first degree murder. This is the exact reason why every defendant is guaranteed an attorney, and there should be no doubt in their minds that their attorney is working 100 percent in protection of their best interests. Allowing Dassey to speak w. investigators w.o his attorney present, knowing that Dassey was easily manipulated and of lower intelligence is beyond reprehensible, and his attorney should be ashamed of himself. Dassey's conversations w. his mother are absolutely heartbreaking- he clearly had no idea the severity of the situation he was in, how he got into it, or what he could do to help himself. If anyone deserves a new trial, it is Dassey.
The question I have for everyone who watched this and suddenly is 100 percent convinced of Avery's innocence, is who killed Teresa Halbach and put her charred remains and belongings on Avery's property? If someone planted that car on Avery's property because they wanted him to look guilty, why would they take off the license plates and throw them in a salvaged car on the property? Wouldn't they want to keep them on so the car could be quickly identified and Avery framed? I don't think there is any doubt evidence was tampered with, but it's one thing to tamper w. evidence and entirely another to murder an innocent woman and plant her body on Avery's salvage yard. Clearly, the murder didn't go down like Dassey said, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. Why did Dassey's mother state that he came home covered in bleach, and he responded that it was from cleaning Avery's garage? If someone else murdered Teresa, how did they know when she left Avery's and how were they able to get back on Avery's property to plant her car and charred body and belongings? She never had any contact w. anyone after heading to Avery's. Avery said she was there to take pictures, he is the one who requested her personally, and the only person saying he wasn't the last person to see her alive is Avery himself. Even though there was plenty of evidence questioning Avery's guilt, there was just as much evidence supporting it, and IMO the documentary doesn't do enough to show this evidence.
I hear ya. 
