Judge William Duffin said of the quashed conviction: ‘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 14th Amendments’.
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A federal judge on Friday overturned the murder conviction of one of two Wisconsin men serving life sentences for the 2005 slaying of a freelance photographer in a case spotlighted in the popular Netflix television documentary “Making a Murderer”. He filed a $36 million federal lawsuit against the county, its former sheriff and district attorney in 2004.
Producers missed the moment Brendan Dassey’s conviction was quashed and will have to recreate the events for the new series. The murder, trial and its aftermath were documented in the hit Netflix series Making a Murderer, which premiered in December 2015 and was produced by filmmakers Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the new ruling “gives prosecutors 90 days to decide whether to retry Dassey, although an appeal could extend the proceedings”. For this reason, a Wisconsin Federal court overturned Dassey’s conviction on Friday. The 10-part series tells the story of Dassey’s uncle, Steven Avery, who was wrongfully imprisoned for 18 years for sexual assualt, and Dassey and Avery’s alleged role in the murder of Halbach.
Also speaking to TMZ, Avery’s brother Chuck said that he was also happy for Dassey but that he wouldn’t stop “until the other person wrongly convicted is also freed: his brother”. Halbach’s charred remains were found in an incineration barrel and a burn pit on Avery’s property, about 80 miles (130 km) north of Milwaukee.
Avery’s current attorney Kathleen Zellner, whom he obtained in January, also posted on Twitter, writing, “Justice for Brendan as another LE fabricated confession bites the dust”.
“The kid’s confession was not entered into evidence against Avery, and I don’t think it impacted Avery’s trial at all”, Friedberg said. “Convicting the innocent foiled by unbiased court”.
There is now a petition on Change.org to try to get Dassey to the Show of Shows next year, and it already has nearly 200 backers.
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Friday’s ruling came after Dassey’s appeal was rejected by state courts.
