STORY: "'Making a Murderer' nephew Brendan Dassey ordered to be released by judge ," published by The Associated Press on November 15, 2006.
PHOTO CAPTION: "Brendan Dassey is escorted into court for sentencing in August 2007. He had his conviction overturned on Friday."
GIST: "A man whose homicide conviction was overturned in a case profiled in the Netflix series "Making a Murderer" could be celebrating Thanksgiving at home with his family in Wisconsin after a judge ordered him to be released from prison. Brendan Dassey's release was ordered by US Magistrate Judge
William Duffin on Monday even as prosecutors appeal the judge's earlier
ruling overturning Dassey's conviction. It's not clear how
quickly Dassey will be released. He faces a Tuesday deadline to provide
information on where he will live and federal probation officers must
also inspect the site before he is released. Wisconsin Attorney General
Brad Schimel promised to file an emergency motion in the 7th US Circuit
Court of Appeals to keep Dassey behind bars. Duffin ruled in August that investigators tricked Dassey into confessing he helped his uncle, Steven Avery,
rape, kill and mutilate photographer Teresa Halbach at the Avery family
salvage yard in Manitowoc County in 2005. Investigators allege Avery
lured her there by asking her to take photos of a minivan. The state has appealed that ruling and argued Dassey should remain in prison while it was pending. Dassey was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide,
second-degree sexual assault and mutilating a corpse. He was sentenced
to life in prison in 2007. Court documents describe Dassey as a slow
learner who had poor grades and has difficulty understanding language
and speaking. In his August ruling,
Duffin said investigators made specific promises of leniency to Dassey
and that no "fair-minded jurists could disagree." Schimel, in his
appeal, said investigators did not promise leniency and they
specifically told Dassey that no promises could be made. Attorneys are in the process of filing legal briefs in the appeal, which is expected to be argued sometime next year. State prosecutors argued that in the meantime, Dassey should
remain in prison because he is a serious threat to public safety. But
Duffin in ordering Dassey set free cited his "exceedingly benign" prison
disciplinary record and the fact that he had no convictions before the
Halbach case. Dassey, now 27, was 16 when Halbach was killed. The judge ordered Dassey released as soon as the federal
probation office approved where he was going to live and "completed
whatever additional investigation it deems necessary." Dassey's
attorney, Steve Drizin, said he did not know how long that would take
but he hoped Dassey would be free by Thanksgiving, which was just 10
days away. "That's what I'm focused on right now, getting him home,
getting him with his family and then helping him to re-integrate back
into society while his appeal plays out," Drizin said."......... Avery was convicted in a separate trial and was also sentenced to life in prison. He is pursuing his own appeal. Their cases gained national attention after Netflix aired
"Making a Murderer" last year. The series spawned widespread conjecture
about the pair's innocence. Authorities who worked on the cases said the
series was biased, but it generated calls from the public to free both
men."
