'Making a Murderer' course is big hit with Utah law school students

When University of Utah law student Mary Royal heard that a course based on the wildly popular Netflix series "Making a Murderer" was being offered this year, she jumped at the chance to enroll.

"I was one of the lucky 12 (to get a spot in the class)," said Royal, a third-year student at the university's S.J. Quinney College of Law.

The class was offered by Professor Shima Baradaran Baughman, who was struck by the issues raised in the docuseries about the legal odysseys of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey, who are both serving life in prison for the 2005 murder of 25-year-old Teresa Halbach.

Royal gave high marks to the class, which began in January and concluded last week. And she came away from it with some impressions about the criminal justice system.

"As lawyers, we are supposed to uphold justice and ('Making a Murderer'), in my opinion, seemed to be a failure of justice," she said. "I went into the case with a very prosecutorial mindset, but my heart went out to Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey."

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In an interview with USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, Baughman responded to questions about the class and the deep impact of "Making a Murderer" on the justice system.

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin: Describe your impressions of 'Making a Murderer.'

PROFESSOR SHIMA BARADAN BAUGHMAN: Like many Americans, I became hooked and binge-watched 'Making a Murderer.' As a professor of criminal law, though, I related to the issues that came up in the show on a deeper level. I was familiar with the difficulties that poor Americans have with getting a fair shake at criminal justice, but now others were able to see this in an intimate way by watching the Avery/Dassey trials. I think it was an awakening for many Americans. As addictive as 'Making a Murderer' is, the show is dark and more than a little depressing. It highlights some of the largest and most troubling cracks in the American criminal justice system, as well as the tragedy of multi-generational poverty.

Q: When did it occur to you that the series could be the subject of a class?

A: The thing is that many people after watching 'Making a Murderer' wondered how this could have happened to Avery or Dassey. People commented about how awful it was that the prosecutors tainted the jury pool, that Dassey had bad representation, and that the cards were stacked towards the state at every part of the process. I wanted to teach this class because I wanted people to know that this is not a story unique to Avery or Wisconsin. Injustice happens to many Americans every day in courtrooms all across the country. In a lot of ways, the Avery and Dassey story is the story of all Americans who confront the criminal justice system — at least those without money.

Q: How have students responded to the class? Has there been considerable interest in signing up for it?

A: The students love it. They all come to class each week excited and engaged and they haven’t once complained about the over 1,200 pages of reading we have done so far in the semester. There was a lot of interest in the class. It filled up within an hour of the registration opening.

Q: How do you present the docuseries to students? Do they watch various episodes to get a flavor of the subject?

A: We watch an episode before each class and also read the background case filings and trial transcripts that correspond with the various topics. Each class has a theme. The themes have included prosecutorial ethics, jury voir dire, venue transfer, juvenile confessions, DNA and case science.

Q: Do you, or your students, get the sense that 'Making a Murderer' is one-sided in favor of defendants Avery and Dassey?

A: We just talked about this last week. My thought based on the criticism of the show by the Wisconsin prosecutors was that after reading more of the actual case filings and interviews and briefs, we would feel that the show was one-sided. But, in fact, I think it is quite the opposite. We feel like the show fairly represented both sides and, if anything, reading the case materials has made some of us believers in a conspiracy against Avery and Dassey.

Q: Is this a subject that you would consider offering again in the future?

A: Absolutely. 'Making a Murderer' is a great vehicle to teach about criminal justice today. I will teach it while students are interested in the class. And season 2 will just add to the material we can discuss.

Q: Why do you think the docu-series has drawn so much national and international attention?

A: This is an especially compelling story. How often does a person wrongfully convicted of a crime, who serves 18 years, then potentially get accused of another crime? It’s just a crazy story regardless of his guilt or innocence, but the fact that it is unclear whether he is guilty or not makes it a murder mystery in a sense.

Q: How did Dean Strang’s appearance on April 5 benefit your class?

A: Dean Strang spoke to a crowded room of over 200 University of Utah students with integrity and poise. He is the epitome of great lawyering. I was honored that my students could hear his fair and even perspective and gain his insights into the case.

Q: What are the main lessons to be learned from Making a Murderer'?

A: The main lesson to be learned is that it is good to stash away a million dollars (in case) you are wrongfully accused of a crime, because you will probably need more than that to get good representation. Another lesson that people need to understand is that poor people do not fare well in the criminal justice system.

Q: Do you think the issues presented in this case might prompt some law students to work for innocence groups or advocate for those who are wrongfully convicted?

A: Absolutely, some of my students are interested in working for innocence groups, but a good handful will be prosecutors and this case will haunt them so that they are careful in protecting the rights of defendants and avoiding tunnel vision when police think they have their suspect.