In November, the federal judge who overturned the conviction granted a petition for Dassey's release, but just three days later the 7th Circuit granted the state's motion that Dassey remain in prison during the appeals process.
After 99.9% of the world's population watched Making A Murderer, most viewers came to the conclusion that either (A) Brendan Dassey was innocent, or (B) Brendan Dassey was guilty, but there wasn't enough evidence to convict him of the murder of Teresa Halbach, and it looks like the federal judges in the US came to the same conclusion.
Avery spent 18 years in prison in that case before DNA tests showed he didn't commit the crime. As it turns out, a federal appeals panel agrees.
The ruling that Dassey's civil rights were violated was centered on lines of questioning used by Wisconsin investigator Tom Fassbender and Calumet County Sgt. Mark Wiegert. "We anticipate seeking review by the entire 7th Circuit or the United States Supreme Court and hope that today's erroneous decision will be reversed", Johnny Koremenos, director of communications and public affairs for the Wisconsin Department of Justice, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
In August, a federal magistrate ruled that investigators in the case had coerced Dassey, who suffered from cognitive problems, into giving his confession. She said they did the math and determined that he had been in prison for 4,132 days as of Thursday. "We're not there yet". But that ruling didn't mean Dassey was done with America's justice system. "This is a confession that nobody can have any faith in".
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On Thursday, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 in favor of upholding Duffin's ruling.
Dassey's attorneys say they're elated and will take immediate steps to secure his release.
Regarding the promises of leniency - the interrogators repeatedly told Dassey things like, "It's not your fault" - the court noted, "W$3 e recognize that false promises, like other interrogation techniques, do not, per se, make a confession involuntary". Dassey was 16 at the time and Judge William Duffin said that he lacked the mental acuity to endure four interrogations. "The pattern of questions demonstrates that the message the investigators conveyed is that the "truth" was what they wanted to hear", reads the decision, according to WBAY. Dassey confessed yet again during the May 13 police interrogation, though the details differed from the May 1 confession. Then it was Laura Nirider, Dassey's attorney's turn.
Brendan played a key role in the Netflix series Making A Murderer which saw him and his uncle Steven Avery convicted of murdering Teresa. They also could elect to re-try Dassey.
Because that confession was "essentially the only evidence the State presented against Dassey at trial", the appeals court also concluded that wrongly admitting the confession at trial could not have been "harmless error" that would allow the conviction to stand.
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