Penny Beernsten is the woman solely known for misidentifying and using her testimony in court to wrongly convict Steven Avery of rape in the mid-80's.

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In 1985, Beernsten was going on a run before an unknown assailant raped and assaulted her.

Following police investigation, Beernsten picked out who she then though was her assailant (Steven Avery) out of a row and used her testimony to convict him.

However, DNA evidence later revealed that Avery was not the man who raped Beernsten, leading to his exoneration.

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After the Netflix series Making a Murderer, which solely revolved around Avery and his innocence, was released in early January, Beernsten talked about her situation and what the show meant to her.

^[0]Beernsten has reiterated her sadness in misidentifying her rapist, going as far as saying that she wanted the Earth to swallow her.

Beernsten also said that the day she learned of his exoneration was worse than the day she was assaulted.

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