No support for the wrongfully convicted, freedom but no guidance

We the jury find the defendant Steven Avery guilty of first degree intentional homicide as charged in the first count of the information. 

Just over 8 years ago in a Wisconsin court house, a verdict gripped the state and made news across the U.S. It was a case that was shocking and tragic, in several ways — Not least because the accused, Steven Avery, had once walked free from jail as an exonerated man. He had spent 18 years in prison, convicted of a rape he did not commit, until he was finally freed, in 2003.

Steven Avery's wrongful imprisonment was considered such a travesty of justice that the state passed a new law in his name: the Avery Bill, to prevent future wrongful convictions. But on the day the governor was set to sign the bill, Steven Avery found himself back in handcuffs, arrested, this time, for the murder of a 25 year old woman named Teresa Halbach.

It's a case that Michael Griesbach believes holds many important lessons for the way we support the wrongfully convicted, once they are exonerated and allowed to walk free.

Michael Griesbach is a public prosecutor and board member of the Wisconsin Innocence Project. He investigated the case and wrote about it in his book,"The Innocent Killer: A True Story of a Wrongful Conviction and its Astonishing Aftermath." He was in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

Ron Dalton knows first hand how damaging a wrongful conviction can be. He was wrongfully convicted for murdering his wife and spent eight-and-a-half years in jail before being released. Ron Dalton is now the co-President of the Association in Defense of the Wrongly Convicted or AIDWYC. He was in St. John's, Newfoundland. 

This segment was produced by The Current's Howard Goldenthal and Gord Westmacott.