MANITOWOC – Steven Avery’s attorney Kathleen Zellner said Thursday a criminal misconduct charge against a former Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office detective could raise doubt about the detective’s involvement in the murder investigation.
This week, former Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Dave Remiker was charged by the Brown County district attorney for misconduct in office after an internal audit found several thousand dollars of asset forfeiture funds weren’t deposited into designated accounts.
Forfeiture funds are proceeds from seized assets from criminal investigations that are used to pay for law enforcement programs.
Remiker served as a lieutenant in the county’s Metro Drug Unit before retiring Jan. 31. The audit was done in February.
Zellner told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Thursday she’s been following the story.
“Although there is no direct connection to the Avery case at this point,” she said, “(I believe) the integrity or lack thereof of any individual investigative officer creates a positive or negative impression of the integrity of the investigations in which the officer was involved.”
Dave Remiker was one of the first detectives to search Steven Avery’s trailer and garage.
This isn’t the first time Remiker has found himself in hot water.
There were questions about whether it was a conflict of interest for the detective and other Manitowoc County sheriff’s officials to be part of the investigation of Avery in the homicide of Teresa Halbach.
Many viewers of “Making a Murderer” — a popular 2015 Netflix series — were convinced Avery and his nephew, Brendan Dassey, were unfairly convicted for the Oct. 31, 2005, death of 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbach.
“Making a Murderer” suggests Manitowoc County deputies may have planted evidence in the case to make Avery look guilty.
That’s because when Avery was arrested in 2005, he had only been out of prison for two years after serving 18 years for a sexual assault he did not commit. He was exonerated after DNA evidence identified a different man as the assailant.
“Making a Murderer” highlights the arguments Avery’s lawyers made at trial that members of the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office could have framed Avery for Halbach’s death because he had a $36 million lawsuit against the county for a false conviction.
Avery’s 2004 false conviction lawsuit alleged Manitowoc County authorities intentionally ignored evidence another man committed the 1985 assault that led to Avery being locked away for 18 years.
Because the lawsuit was ongoing while he was being investigated in connection to Halbach’s disappearance, the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office said it would step back from the case. Officials agreed Calumet County should lead the search at Avery’s Auto Salvage in the Town of Gibson near Two Rivers.
Nonetheless, Manitowoc County deputies — including Remiker — played a role in the investigation.
Court records indicate that on Nov. 5, 2005, a few hours after Halbach’s car was found at Avery’s property, Remiker and a Calumet County deputy searched Avery’s trailer and his two-car garage for 18 minutes.
Later that evening, Remiker and two other Manitowoc County sheriff’s employees searched Avery’s trailer for more than two-and-a-half hours, during which another officer later found the key to Halbach’s vehicle.
After that first wave of evidence was processed, several months passed, and then Avery’s nephew, 17-year-old Brendan Dassey, told investigator he and Avery had raped Halbach. He said Avery then stabbed her and he also slit her throat. Avery then shot her and burned the body, Dassey had said.
Dassey was tried for rape and murder. During his 2007 trial, Remiker and a Calumet County deputy were tasked with monitoring the sequestered jury. They both were reprimanded for failing to log into a log book that the Calumet County deputy’s husband had unlawfully entered the jury room to bring pizza.
Remiker denied he knew about the visit.
In his deficiency report, dated April 25, 2007, it stated: “In this incident, Detective Remiker should have used better judgment by logging in the visit and knowing that this type of visit could cause risk to the jury integrity.”
In December 2006, Remiker sent an email to Manitowoc County Board Chairman Jim Brey saying he was “one of the lead investigators on the (Avery case).”
After Avery was charged in Halbach’s murder, he settled his lawsuit with Manitowoc County for $400,000.
On March 18, 2007, a jury found Avery guilty of killing Halbach and he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
Avery is currently appealing Manitowoc County Circuit Court’s decision to deny his third motion for postconviction relief. He argues another man killed Halbach and requested DNA testing on a variety of locations inside Halbach’s vehicle.
Related: Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey remain imprisoned. Here’s where their court proceedings stand.
Zellner said exoneration in wrongful conviction cases takes an average of 15 to 18 years. She has been vocal on social media about her belief in Avery’s innocence and has helped 20 people overturn wrongful convictions.
Dave Remiker’s misconduct charge could lead authorities to review cases he was involved with.
The misconduct charge or a conviction could also open the door for Manitowoc County authorities to review all cases Remiker was involved in as a sheriff’s office detective.
Prosecutors or police departments often compile Brady lists, or watchlists of law enforcement officers who have been accused of or have engaged in misconduct. The term comes from a 1963 United States Supreme Court case, Brady vs. the State of Maryland, which was the first to establish Brady lists.
An officer could be placed on a Brady list for falsifying police reports, fabricating or tampering with evidence, lying on the witness stand, coercing witnesses or brutalizing people.
Not every district attorney’s office has a Brady list and there are few guidelines about how it should be applied.
Manitowoc County District Attorney’s Office did not return a phone call asking whether it would include Remiker on such a list prior to publication.
Contact reporter Patti Zarling at pzarling@gannett.com or call 920-606-2575. Follow her on X @PGPattiZarling and on Instagram @PGPatti.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Steven Avery attorney responds to detective’s misconduct charge
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