Andrew Colborn, a retired Wisconsin detective, lost a defamation suit against Netflix for his portrayal in the 2015 true-crime documentary series Making a Murderer.
While announcing the verdict US District Judge Brett Ludwig noted that Colborn failed to show that Netflix, and Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos- the creators of the series, acted with malice towards him.
Colborn had sued the streaming giant and the filmmaker in a lawsuit from April 2019 where he alleged that the documentary defamed him and misquoted his testimony. He further alleged that the documentary edited snippets of his testimony and reactions in court such that he appears nervous and uncertain.
He was represented by attorney George Burnett, who did not immediately respond to comments.
The 10-part documentary series, aired in 2015, depicts the story of Steven Avery, Avery spent 22 years in prison for sexual assault before DNA tests exonerated him.
However, three years after his release in 2003, he was convicted again with his nephew for the murder of photographer Teresa Halbach. They were handed life imprisonment by the courts.
Avery was convicted of the murder in 2007 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The case gained further attention through the Netflix documentary series “Making a Murderer,” which raised questions about the fairness of Avery’s trial and the possibility of police misconduct and planted evidence.
Avery continues to maintain his innocence in the murder case and has been pursuing appeals and legal avenues to overturn his conviction. The case has been the subject of ongoing controversy and debate.
While announcing the verdict, Judge Ludwig found that the edits retained the gist of his testimonies, apart from the fact that Colborn failed to show that the streaming platform and the creators acted with malice.
