The U.S. District Court in Milwaukee overturned Brendan Dassey’s conviction and ordered him freed within 90 days unless prosecutors decide to retry him.
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Previously, The Wisconsin Court of Appeals rejected Brendan’s request for a new trial in January 2013, concluding that Dassey was not coerced by the police for his confession.
Magistrate Judge William Duffin said in Friday’s ruling that investigators made false promises to Dassey by assuring him “he had nothing to worry about”.
Fans of Netflix favourite Making a Murderer will already be pretty familiar with the uncertainty that surrounded Brendan Dassey’s four hour long confession tape. He believes his nephew will be released. When Dassey writes a “confession” proclaiming his innocence, O’Kelly then makes him rewrite his version of events and even goes so far as to make the learning-impaired teenager draw diagrams of the rape and murder, which are later used against him in his trial.
TMZ added that, in contrast, Avery’s brother Chuck said that he would not celebrate “until the other person wrongly convicted is also freed: his brother”.
The 26-year-old was convicted, along with his uncle Steven Avery, of murdering Teresa Halbach a decade ago and sentenced to life in prison.
A petition for writ of habeas corpus was filed in federal court by Dassey’s lawyer, Laura Nirider, in October 2014 and was opposed by Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel in May 2015. As the case stands now, Dassey would have only been eligible for parole by 2048. In Friday’s court decision, the judge agreed, overturning a life sentence for first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and second-degree intentional assault. Zellner said in a statement that she’s confident that Avery’s conviction will eventually be overturned “when an unbiased court” reviews new evidence.
“Making a Murderer” is not unlike Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s three “Paradise Lost” documentaries, which explored the case of the West Memphis Three.
While debate still rages on Avery’s case, few can argue Dassey wasn’t completely let down by the system.
The makers of the smash hit Netflix documentary released a statement to Entertainment Weekly following the ruling.
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