Netflix got an incredible boost from “Making a Murderer” – so much so it’s producing a sequel – so imagine how much it stung when a judge virtually opened the prison door for Brendan Dassey and producers were totally out of position.
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The filmmakers cast doubt on the legal process to convict Dassey and Avery.
Duffin said in Friday’s ruling that investigators made false promises to Dassey by assuring him “he had nothing to worry about”. But on Friday Judge William Duffin found that Dassey’s confession to police had been involuntary, giving the state of Wisconsin 90 days to retry Dassey or set him free.
Jerry Buting, Avery’s former lawyer, who featured prominently in Making a Murderer, also tweeted that “justice finally strikes”, adding: “State of Wisconsin should accept federal court decision and drop case against Brendan Dassey”.
Unlike Avery, whose conviction was based largely on DNA evidence, no physical evidence linked Dassey to the slaying of Ms. Halbach.
Dassey and his uncle Steven Avery were convicted of murdering young woman Teresa Hallbach in 2005.
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. There had been no evidence tying Brendan to anything in the case except for what authorities twisted him into saying, and that was so well documented in Making a Murderer. In a 91-page ruling, Dassey ruled that the questioning that led to Dassey’s confession was in violation of his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.
He was sentenced to life with no parole for 41 years.
March 2, 2006: Avery’s nephew Brendan Dassey, then 16, is charged in adult court with being a party to first-degree intentional homicide, mutilation of a corpse and first-degree sexual assault. Once considered in this proper light, the conclusion that Dassey’s statement was involuntary under the totality of the circumstances is not one about which “fair minded jurists could disagree”. Dassey later recanted his confession, which nevertheless played a key part in shaping the prosecution’s case.
The series, written and directed by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, largely focused on the story of Avery, both in his turbulent years leading up to the Halbach murder and those following it.
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The decision represents the critical moment in the sequel. the payoff for millions who watched the first installment in outrage as Brendan and co-defendant Steven Avery were convicted. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.
