A U.S. judge has overturned the murder conviction of Brendan Dassey, whose story was featured in the popular Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer, along with his uncle.
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November 8, 2005: Avery tells reporters he fears authorities are trying to frame him for Halbach’s slaying because he sued Manitowoc County officials for $36 million for wrongful conviction.
The state can appeal the Federal Court decision in which Dassey would remain in prison. Avery has also appealed his conviction in a separate trial for the murder, for which he is serving a life sentence. Dassey’s attorneys did not respond to requests for comments.
Steven Drizin, a professor of law at Northwestern University, who pushed to have Dassey’s conviction overturned, told the BBC’s Today programme yesterday: “I thought that this was a confession that was the result of police coercion”.
In perhaps one of the most iconic moments of the Netflix docuseries, Dassey complains to his mother about missing Wrestlemania from jail.
The makers of the smash hit Netflix documentary released a statement to Entertainment Weekly following the ruling.
Numerous elements of the case bothered observers. Notably, Dassey’s IQ hovers somewhere between 69 and 73.
While debate still rages on Avery’s case, few can argue Dassey wasn’t completely let down by the system.
Prosecutors laid out their case: Halbach’s Toyota RAV4 (which contained blood, including Avery’s) was found on the Avery family’s lot. Avery maintains Halbach’s bones, her vehicle and key were planted on his property.
As a student at Mishicot High School at the time of Ms. Halbach’s murder, Dassey was taking mostly general classes but some special education classes, too. “The respondent shall release Dassey from custody unless, within 90 days of the date of this decision, the State initiates proceedings to retry him”.
“The investigators’ use of leading questions and disclosure of non-public facts makes it hard to evaluate whether Dassey really knew the facts or was simply agreeing with the investigators”, Duffin said in his decision. The judge went on to call misconduct by Dassey’s lawyer “indefensible” during the original legal proceedings.
“The court does not reach this conclusion lightly”, Duffin wrote. However, it was not a conflict of interest. As shown in the documentary, Kachinsky arranged the interviews but did not attend. He filed a $36 million federal lawsuit against the county, its former sheriff and district attorney in 2004.
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Kratz has criticized filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, saying they left out crucial evidence that pointed to Avery’s guilt – an accusation the pair has denied.
