On August 12, 2016, Brendan Dassey had his conviction for the intentional homicide of photographer Teresa Halbach overturned.
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Avery, meanwhile, remains in prison.
Brendan Dassey was in prison for the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach along with his uncle Steven Avery.
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. Dassey’s attorneys had argued that the confession was coerced. That formed the basis of their appeal.
The judge called out Dassey’s lawyer, Len Kachinsky, for misconduct.
The interrogation also came under the judge’s scrutiny. They believe investigators repeatedly claimed to already know what happened in Halbach’s death and that Dassey had nothing to worry about.
FOX6 News has been reading through the 91-page federal court decision overturning Dassey’s conviction.
The show cast major doubts on the investigation and verdict and generated huge public interest in the case. Dassey has been held in Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin since his trail on April 25, 2007. Mike Hayes, senior editor at BuzzFeed, tweeted out an image of an official court document that states Dassey must be released from prison within ninety days unless the State plans on appealing the court’s decision. He was later accused of murdering Halbach, a photographer who had photographed his vehicle for Auto Trader magazine.
The Midwest Innocence Project at Northwestern University and Wisconsin counsel Robert Dvorak worked on Dassey’s defense. It’s not immediately clear if Dassey’s overturned conviction will have any impact on Avery’s case.
Dassey, then 16, confessed to authorities that he assisted his uncle in raping and killing Halbach.
Dassey is represented by two attorneys from Northwestern Law’s Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth.
Dassey’s case was so alarming in part due to his apparent intellectual limitations, which some people felt bordered on a disability.
“We fully expected this outcome from an unbiased court that carefully examined his confession”. The case’s original prosecutor, Ken Kratz, who had defended the case after the series was broadcast, could not be contacted.
Earlier this year, Netflix had half of the world frustrated by the American judicial system with its true-crime show Making a Murderer. While Avery had a long criminal past for petty offenses, Dassey presented as a young and naive patsy most of the time.
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