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What Dean Strang's Docuseries Might Cover

by Lauren Holter

Beloved lawyer and heartthrob Dean Strang, who co-represented Steven Avery in Netflix's hit documentary series Making a Murderer, is making a series of his very own. Called Dean Strang: Road to Justice, Strang's docuseries will cover other legal cases that bring up major questions about America's criminal justice system, so Making a Murderer fans can continue their obsession with crime stories and the passionate lawyer. The show is currently in development, and a release date hasn't been announced yet, but that doesn't mean you have to delay your excitement.

The highly anticipated show will be eight hour-long episodes in which Strang investigates cases he believes show systemic flaws in the system, though it's unclear if each episode will dive into a new story or individual cases will span multiple episodes (most likely the former). According to Deadline, it will be in a similar style to Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown, in that the presence of the camera and filmmaker will be obvious and the filmmaker will sometimes provoke subjects on-camera.

"Through his captivating work as Steven Avery's defense attorney that we encountered in Making A Murderer, Dean Strang has become a leading voice in the fight for justice," said Saul Goldberg, head of unscripted television for Covert Media, the show's producer. "We are thrilled to be working with Dean on this landmark series that will shine a light on many other extraordinary cases where the criminal justice system has failed."

Strang's 2013 book Worse than the Devil examines the possible corruption in a 1917 trial surrounding a Milwaukee bombing that killed nine police officers and a civilian, offering a clue into what types of cases his docuseries might cover. It argues that although no one was charged for the crime, 11 alleged Italian anarchists who went to trial days later for unrelated crimes had an unfair trial because of xenophobic assumptions that the bombing was perpetrated by Italians.

While representing Avery in court, Strang argued that Avery was set up for the murder of Teresa Halbach by certain Manitowoc police officers and maintained afterwards that Avery and his nephew, Brendan Dassey, did not receive fair trials. (The Manitowoc police department denied these claims, and courts found both Dassey and Avery guilty.) Based on this and the subject of his book, it's likely that the cases he investigates in the show will focus on corruption within the criminal justice system and unfair trials of the accused.

Strang will host the show, as well as act as executive producer. He's currently an adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School and a lawyer at Strang Bradley in Madison. Strang and Jerry Buting, who represented Avery alongside Strang, are also beginning a 26-city speaking tour across the United States April 16.