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Detective In Steven Avery Case Is Suing Netflix For Defamation Over 'Making A Murderer'
Retired Manitowoc County Sheriff's Det. Andrew Colborn says the filmmakers distorted the truth to make him appear corrupt and is asking for his "good name" to be cleared.
A detective who investigated the murder of Teresa Halbach has filed a defamation suit against Netflix and the filmmakers behind "Making a Murderer.”
Manitowoc County Sheriff's Det. Andrew Colborn claims in a lawsuit filed Monday that the popular docu-series falsely blamed him for planting evidence to frame Steven Avery for the killing, according to WBAY in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The first season of the show, released in 2015, raised questions about the convictions of Avery and his nephew Brandon Dassey, both of whom were sentenced to life in prison in 2007 for the murder of Halbach, a photographer, two years earlier. The documentary suggested that police might have planted evidence on Avery’s property and that investigators took advantage of Dassey’s limited intellect in order to coax him into confessing. It has led many to believe in the innocence of the two convicted men.
Colborn claims that the film was misleading in a way that injured his reputation.
"Defendants omitted, distorted, and falsified material and significant facts in an effort to portray [Colborn] as a corrupt police officer who planted evidence to frame an innocent man. Defendants did so with actual malice and in order to make the film more profitable and more successful in the eyes of their peers," the lawsuit states.
He claims that parts of his testimony were omitted and that significant facts from the trial were omitted, including Avery's DNA being found on the hood latch of Halbach's car.
The lawsuit claims that Colborn has suffered distress from the docu-series, including death threats and lost wages. Colborn retired from the sheriff's office earlier this year.
Although it doesn’t seek a specific monetary amount, the lawsuit asks "to clear his good name” and demands a jury trial.
Just this week, Avery’s lawyer announced that she filed a motion to have bones found at the crime scene tested. She believes further examination will prove that they were planted in Avery’s burn pit by the real killer.
[Photo: Netflix]
