Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error

Chapter 11 begins with the story of Penny Beerntsen, who, on July 29, 1985, was assaulted on the shores of Lake Michigan while going for a jog. During the assault, Penny desperately tried to memorize the features of her attacker’s face in order to later identify him. When presented with nine photos of potential assailants, Penny zeroed in on a man named Steven Avery, whom she later also identified in a lineup. The trial against Avery began on December 9, lasting one week, and by the end of it, he was convicted and sentenced to 32 years in prison. When the Wisconsin Innocence Project—part of the national organization that utilizes DNA evidence to overturn wrongful convictions—agreed to take Avery’s case, Penny learned that Avery was not her assailant. She had misidentified him. When Penny learned she had accused the wrong man of her assault, she instantly accepted her mistake and apologized to Steven. Schulz uses this story to discuss the themes of denial and acceptance in the face of mistakes.

The author contends that while DNA testing is beginning to prevail as a key form of evidence, confident eyewitness testimony remains the primary predictor of a jury’s verdict. The word “witness” stems from “wit,” meaning “knowledge.