Lynn Zigmunt

Lynn Zigmunt, the Manitowoc County clerk of court, testified on Day 17 of Steven Avery's 2007 trial about records from his 1985 case and how its file was stored and accessed. On direct examination, she identified certified records concerning a DNA sample and images of the stored file, shipping package, and blood-vial container. She said the public file-access log began in April 2005 and was applied loosely at first. She recalled an early-2005 visit by James Lenk about evidence storage, but the court sustained an objection when she inferred whether he had entered while she was absent. She did not recognize a displayed log, which the State did not offer as an exhibit.

On cross-examination, Jerome Buting questioned whether sign-in practices and clerks' supervision could account for everyone who handled the file. Zigmunt acknowledged exceptions to the sign-in directive, limits on what clerks could see in the viewing area, and a master key that could open the inner-office door. She could not say whether particular investigators had viewed the file. After the defense played a silent video excerpt of an examination of the blood-vial box, she confirmed visible features but could not tell whether the blood was liquid. The court said the video should speak for itself about the seals.

On redirect, Zigmunt said bailiffs commonly came and went, that she gave them a new inner-office code in January 2006, and that other deputies with business there could be buzzed in by a clerk. She had not watched whether bailiffs used the code. On recross, she agreed the area beyond the door was open but explained that someone going to another clerk's area would turn away from Avery's file. She distinguished the file's usual storage location from a photograph showing it on a viewing desk. The defense linked possible file access to its blood-planting theory, but Zigmunt did not identify anyone who accessed the vial for that purpose.