Brendan Dassey's Murder Conviction Overturned
by Greg Evans
August 12, 2016


A federal judge in Milwaukee has overturned the conviction of Brendan Dassey, one of two men whose murder convictions were chronicled in the hit Netflix docuseries "Making a Murderer". U.S. Magistrate Judge William Duffin ordered that Dassey be “released from custody unless, within 90 days of the date of this decision, the State initiates proceedings to retry him.”

Dassey was convicted in connection with the 2005 death of 25-year-old Teresa Halbach. Dassey’s uncle Steven Avery was found guilty of her murder.

The 10-episode "Making a Murderer" chronicled — and questioned — the murder convictions of Avery and his nephew. After its premiere on December 18, the series garnered huge attention from the public and press.





In today’s 91-page ruling, the court found Dassey’s confession was involuntary under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, according to court documents. Dassey was 17 in 2007 when he was sentenced to 41 years in prison for first-degree intentional homicide, second-degree sexual assault and mutilation of a corpse.

But the court ruled today that Dassey’s confession was “involuntary,” and said Dassey’s attorney Len Kachinsky’s “misconduct” was “indefensible.” Duffin also wrote that Dassey’s learning disabilities made him vulnerable to coercion.

Avery, who was convicted in a separate trial, is serving a life sentence and had appealed his conviction.





Duffin wrote that, “investigators repeatedly claimed to already know what happened and assured Dassey that he had nothing to worry about. These repeated false promises, when considered in conjunction with all relevant factors, most especially Dassey’s age, intellectual deficits, and the absence of a supportive adult, rendered Dassey’s confession involuntary under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.”

http://deadline.com/2016/08/making-a-murderer-brendan-dassey-conviction-overturn-1201802949/

"Making a Murderer" Subject’s Overturned Conviction Appealed by Prosecutors
by Denise Petski
September 9, 2016


The state of Wisconsin is appealing a federal judge’s ruling to overturn the conviction of "Making a Murderer" subject Brendan Dassey.

Dassey, one of two men whose murder convictions were chronicled in the hit Netflix docuseries, was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 for his alleged participation in the death of 25-year-old Teresa Halbach. His uncle Steven Avery was found guilty of Halbach’s murder.

U.S. Magistrate Judge William Duffin overturned Dassey’s conviction on August 12, ruling that the court found his confession was involuntary.





The Wisconsin Department of Justice announced today that Attorney General Brad Schimel filed a notice of appeal.

“We believe the magistrate judge’s decision that Brendan Dassey’s confession was coerced by investigators, and that no reasonable court could have concluded otherwise, is wrong on the facts and wrong on the law,” Schimel said in a statement.

http://deadline.com/2016/09/making-a-murderer-subject-overturned-conviction-appealed-brendan-dassey-1201816434/

Judge Orders Brendan Dassey Released from Prison, Pending Appeal
11/14/16


A judge has ordered "Making a Murderer" subject Brendan Dassey released from prison, pending his appeal.

The granting of Dassey's release, first reported by NBC affiliate station TMJ4, came during a ruling Monday, which outlined several conditions, including that he can only travel in the court's Eastern District of Wisconsin, cannot obtain a passport, cannot possess a gun or any other weapons or possess any controlled substances.

He also cannot contact his uncle Steven Avery, or the family of Teresa Halbach.





On Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Duffin granted a motion for release of Dassey. Attorney General Brad Schimel intends to file an emergency motion in the Seventh Circuit seeking a stay of this release order.

A federal magistrate judge ruled in August that investigators tricked Dassey into confessing he helped Avery, rape, kill and mutilate photographer Halbach in 2005. Dassey, who turned 27 Wednesday, was 16 at the time. The magistrate ordered that Dassey be freed unless prosecutors appealed or decided to retry him.









In a brief filed with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Schimel urged the appeals court to reject Dassey's claim that his confession was coerced.

"Substantial police coercion is required for any confession to be ruled involuntary," Schmel said. And he said the Wisconsin Court of Appeals was right to affirm in 2013 that Dassey's confession was voluntary.





Duffin held that investigators made specific promises of leniency to Dassey and that no "fair-minded jurists could disagree." He cited one investigator's comment early in the interview that "you don't have to worry about things," plus repeated comments like "it's OK" and that they already knew what happened.

But the magistrate's ruling "ignores both the facts and the law," the attorney general said. "Investigators didn't promise leniency," he said, "and specifically told Dassey they couldn't make any promises."





"The teenager willingly spoke with investigators and was properly informed of his rights," Schimel said. "The interview took a few hours in the middle of the day, while Dassey sat on a couch and drank a soda, the investigators spoke in normal tones, and did not threaten him or make false promises," he said.

"And Dassey confessed to most of the important details within an hour, in response to open-ended questions," he added. "The state courts' conclusion that Dassey's confession was voluntary is not only reasonable; it is entirely correct. Accordingly, Dassey is not entitled to relief," the attorney general said.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Judge-Orders-Brendan-Dassey-Released-From-Prison-Report-401138936.html

"Making a Murderer" Subject Closer To Release after Appeals Court Win
by Patrick Hipes
June 22, 2017


The U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago has ruled that Brendan Dassey, one of two men convicted of the murder profiled in the Netflix docuseries "Making a Murderer", should be released from prison after affirming a lower court ruling that his confession was coerced.

Dassey was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 in Wisconsin for his alleged participation in the 2005 death of 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbac; his uncle Steven Avery was found guilty of Halbach’s murder. In August, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Duffin overturned Dassey’s conviction, ruling that the court found his confession was involuntary.





The three-judge panel in the U.S Court of Appeals in the Seventh Circuit affirmed Duffin’s ruling today, and said he should be released if not retried within 90 days back in Wisconsin. “The writ of habeas corpus is GRANTED unless the State of Wisconsin elects to retry Dassey within 90 days of issuance of this court’s mandate, or of the Supreme Court’s final mandate,” the judges wrote.

A Wisconsin Department of Justice spokesman told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that it is “evaluating the 2-1 decision from the court. We anticipate seeking review by the entire 7th Circuit or the United States Supreme Court and hope that today’s erroneous decision will be reversed. We continue to send our condolences to the Halbach family as they have to suffer through another attempt by Mr. Dassey to re-litigate his guilty verdict and sentence.”

http://deadline.com/2017/06/making-a-murderer-brendan-dassey-prison-release-appeals-court-win-1202118717/

Appeals Court Ruling Keeps Brendan Dassey in Prison
by Bruce Haring
December 8, 2017


A Wisconsin inmate featured in the Netflix "Making a Murderer" series will stay in prison after a federal appeals court overturned a ruling that could have freed him.

Brendan Dassey had claimed that he was tricked into confessing that he helped his uncle rape and kill photographer Teresa Halbach in 2005.





However, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 4-3 ruling that the findings by a Wisconsin state court that he participated were “reasonable,” even thought one dissenting judge said the case was “a profound miscarriage of justice.”

Dassey was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 for his role in the Halbach murder. The 7th Circuit said in a 39-page ruling that although it was not unreasonable to debate whether Dassey’s confession was voluntary, as the state court ruled, their finding was reasonable.





Judge Ilana Diamond Rovner strongly disagreed. “His confession was not voluntary and his conviction should not stand, and yet an impaired teenager has been sentenced to life in prison,” she wrote in her dissent. “I view this as a profound miscarriage of justice.”

Also dissenting was Chief Judge Diane P. Wood. “Without this involuntary and highly unreliable confession, the case against Dassey was almost nonexistent,” she wrote.





A federal magistrate judge overturned Dassey’s conviction last year on the grounds that his age (he was 16 at the time of confession) and learning disabilities allowed detectives to take advantage of him.

A three-judge panel from the 7th Circuit upheld the magistrate’s ruling in June. But Wisconsin prosecutors asked for a review by the full 7th Circuit, which came back with a different decision today.





Dassey’s attorneys, Laura Nirider and Robert Drizin, said they were “profoundly disappointed” and would petition the U.S. Supreme Court on his behalf.

“Today’s ruling contravenes a fundamental and time-honored position of the United States Supreme Court: interrogation tactics that may not be coercive when applied to adults are coercive when applied to children and the mentally impaired,” they said in a statement.

http://deadline.com/2017/12/court-keeps-netflix-making-a-murderer-in-prison-1202223352/

"Making a Murderer" Subject Denied U.S. Supreme Court Appeal
by Denise Petski
June 25, 2018


The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to take up the case of HBO’s "Making a Murderer" subject Brendan Dassey. No explanation was given for the decision.

Dassey was sentenced to live in prison in 2007 in Wisconsin for his alleged participation in the 2005 death of 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbach; his uncle Steven Avery was found guilty of Halbach’s murder.




Last August, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Duffin overturned Dassey’s conviction, ruling that the court found his confession was involuntary.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the state court decision that could have freed Dassey, ruling that the court’s findings that he participated were “reasonable,” even though one dissenting judge said the case was “a profound miscarriage of justice.”

https://deadline.com/2018/06/making-a-murderer-brendan-dassey-denied-u-s-supreme-court-appeal-1202416699/

Dead Man Walking Nun Among 250 Petitioning for Brendan Dassey's Release
by Seth Abramovitch
10/24/19


Close to 250 political and legal experts have signed an open letter urging Wisconsin's governor to grant clemency to Brendan Dassey, the subject of Netflix's hit true-crime documentary series "Making a Murderer".

The names include former prosecutors and senior U.S. government officials, juvenile justice experts, law enforcement authorities, psychologists who specialize in the study of false confessions and more than two dozen exonerees.




Among them are Sister Helen Prejean, the Catholic nun and anti-death penalty advocate portrayed by Susan Sarandon in 1995's Dead Man Walking, and Barry Scheck, director of the Innocence Project (and a member of O.J. Simpson's legal "dream team").

They join a growing list of high-profile figures calling for Dassey's release — a list that includes Kim Kardashian, who has tweeted in defense of Dassey to her 62 million Twitter followers and personally asked Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers to read Dassey's handwritten letter asking to be released from prison.




In 2016, a federal magistrate overturned Dassey's conviction, nearly resulting in his release from jail. But the state appealed the judge's ruling, sending the case to United States Supreme Court.

However, the justices declined to hear the appeal.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dead-man-walking-nun-250-petitioning-brendan-dasseys-release-1249820