The Netflix true crime documentary series Making a Murderer won big at the Creative Arts Emmys last night, taking home four awards for outstanding documentary series, editing, writing, and directing. Since debuting last December, the largely unheralded show has become one of Netflix’s biggest hits, spawning a rebirth of the true crime genre and creating a large online community dedicated to discovering what really happened to Making a Murderer subject Teresa Halbach.
Show creators Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi are currently working on a second season focused on the post-conviction appeals of Steven Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey, the two men convicted of Halbach’s death. There’s been a lot of movement in their cases since the first season exploded on Netflix: wrongful convictions expert Kathleen Zellner took up Avery’s case and just filed a motion to retest key evidence in his case, and a federal judge threw out Brendan Dassey’s conviction due to an illegally obtained confession.
Unfortunately for Brendan, he’ll remain in jail while the state of Wisconsin appeals that federal judge’s decision, something Demos and Ricciardi commented on with the press backstage after their Emmy wins.
Winner for Documentary/Nonfiction Series at #EmmysArts is @MakingAMurderer/@Netflix pic.twitter.com/2u2JI4XCuE
— Television Academy (@TelevisionAcad) September 12, 2016
“As many of you know, Brendan Dassey’s conviction was overturned, and just last Friday, Wisconsin filed a notice of appeal,” Demos said. “This is just part of the process. This is justice at work and we will continue to document that. It’s a very trying time for all the families involved on both sides to continue to have this unresolved and ongoing, but that’s sort of how justice works, so we’ll continue to follow it.”
That’s a very neutral and even-handed statement for the filmmakers, who have been accused by some of creating an irresponsible documentary that makes Avery and Dassey look like innocent men set up by local law enforcement and the court system. The two have always claimed they made no judgment on the guilt or innocence of Avery or Dassey, instead focusing on the shortcomings of a system that has unlimited resources to create any reality they choose to convict suspects.
There’s no date for the release of Making a Murderer season two. Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi spent nearly 10 years working on season one, so I doubt they will rush the sequel. The wheels of justice turn slowly and motions can take up to a year or more to be heard. We may not see season two for another year at least. But every step of the journey is currently being played out in the press and you can keep up to date over at our Making a Murderer page right here.