WHOA!
Making a Murderer Defendant Brendan Dassey’s Confession Was Coerced, Judges Rule
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Brendan Dassey’s case just took yet another turn. Judges on a federal appeals panel ruled Thursday that the previous confession from Dassey, whose story was told on Netflix‘s wildly popular Making a Murderer, was improperly obtained. The judges ordered that he should be re-tried or released from prison, according to a new report from the Associated Press.
Viewers of the docuseries will recall that Dassey was convicted in the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach after telling detectives that he helped his uncle, Steven Avery, commit the crimes. In separate trials, both Dassey and Avery were sentenced to life in prison.
Since the trial, the confession has been considered a point of contention. The then-16-year-old suffered from cognitive problems and there was speculation that his admission of guilt was coerced.
This past August, a federal judge overturned the conviction, ruling that Dassey was coerced into confessing. The state of Wisconsin’s Justice Department appealed. Then in November, Dassey was granted a supervised release from prison, but that release was blocked in an appeals court.
Now that the three-judge panel has upheld the federal judge’s August decision, the state can take the case to the Supreme Court, ask for a review, or attempt to re-try Dassey, according to the AP.
Meanwhile, Avery continues to work on his own appeals.
Did you watch Making a Murderer? What do you think of this recent development? Tell us @BritandCo.
(Photos via Netflix)