Brendan Dassey

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File:Brendan Dassey.jpg

Brendan Dassey during his trial 16th -25th April 2007

Brendan Ray Dassey (b. October 19, 1989) is an American man from Two Rivers, Wisconsin who was 17 years old and 6 months when convicted of intentional homicide in the state of Wisconsin as depicted in the Netflix docu-series directed by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, Making a Murderer. Dassey's videotaped four-hour interrogation and his confession (subsequently recanted) play a pivotal role in the Netflix series which examines the 2007 murder trial and conviction of both Dassey and Steven Avery, his uncle, in the death of Autotrader photographer Teresa Halbach, which is documented to have taken place on 31 October 2005.

Early life

Born to parents Barbara and Peter Dassey, Brendan Dassey grew up in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, with brothers, Bryan, Bobby and Blaine Dassey. Dassey had been a sophomore student at Mishicot High School and was a participant in a selection of Special Education classes with an IQ evaluation in the low 70's, which classified him as borderline to below average intelligence. Not previously involved with law enforcement, Dassey had no previous altercations or interactions with the police and was described as a quiet, reserved young man with an interest in Wrestlemania, animals, and video games.

Involvement in the Teresa Halbach case

Calumet County Autotrader photographer Teresa Halbach, born March 22 1980, Kaukauna, Wisconsin, was reported missing by her parents on November 3, 2005. Halbach had not been seen since October 31 and had resided next door to her parents and shared a home with a roommate named Scott Bloedorn, a mutual friend of Teresa’s and her ex-boyfriend, Ryan Hillegas. Halbach visited the Avery Salvage Yard in Two Rivers, Manitowoc County on the same day she was last seen alive. On the November 10 2005, Calumet County Sheriff Jerry Pagel announces that the charred remains of Teresa Halbach were discovered on the Avery property as was her Toyota Rav4 vehicle, cell phone, car key and number plates. On November 15, Avery was charged with the murder of Halbach, mutilation of a corpse and illegal possession of a firearm after Avery's blood was found in her vehicle. Steven Avery's defence team of Dean Strang and Jerome Buting argued that the evidence was planted and that Steven Avery was framed by the Manitowoc County Sheriffs Department in retaliation for the $36 million lawsuit that was pending with depositions having taken place in the September 2005. After a series of interrogations, Dassey, who was also Avery's alibi, confessed to being a co-conspirator in the rape and murder of Halbach and was arrested and charged on March 3, 2006, with being party to a first-degree homicide, sexual assault and mutilation of a corpse. Dassey later recanted his confession in a letter to Judge Fox.

Teresa Halbach's death certificate was released to the public in 2016, raising questions surrounding the timeline of events as documented by authorities.

Interrogation

Dassey was subjected to interrogation on four separate occasions over a 48-hour period, including three times in a 24 hour time frame with no legal representation, parent or interested adult present. Initially interviewed on November 6 at the family cabin in Crivitz, Dassey was interrogated via the Reid Technique but his right to a competent legal defense as part of his constitutional protection had been subject to discussion and forms the basis of his petition for writ of Habeas Corpus, now pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Dassey recanted his confession and informed his defence counsel Leonard Kachinsky and the defence investigator Michael O'Kelly that he was innocent. As one of two protaganists in the Netflix series Making a Murderer (December 18, 2015) which chronicles the trials of both Dassey and Steven Avery, this 10 part docu-series has created global dialogue centred around wrongful convictions, coerced confessions, interrogation of minors without effective counsel or representation, and the need for criminal justice reform.

Dassey's right to effective counsel is addressed in the Habeas Corpus petition as follows:

Petitioner Brendan Dassey is in custody pursuant to a state-court judgment of conviction. His conviction, sentence, and confinement are unlawful and were unconstitutionally obtained in violation of his Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. In particular, this federal habeas petition asserts two claims. The first claim asserts that Brendan Dassey’s Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel was violated when his pre-trial attorney breached his duty of loyalty by working with the prosecution to secure Brendan’s conviction. The second claim asserts that Brendan’s Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process were violated by the admission of his involuntary confession. - Laura Nirider

Reid Technique

Developed to permit and encourage law enforcement officers to use a variety of high-pressure tactics that incite suspects to confess, the Reid Technique isolates individuals from family and cabins them in small interrogation rooms where they are repeatedly accused of committing a crime. According to Tom Geraghty (NITA Trustee), when the technique is used against vulnerable suspects whose youth and cognitive disabilities make them an easy target, it will result in a false confession. Dassey was clinically evaluated as being highly suggestible, which makes a suspect more compliant and ultimately leads to improper interrogation outcomes.

Throughout the 4-hour interview recorded on 13 May 2006, Calumet County Investigator Mark Wiegert and Wisconsin Special Investigator Tom Fassbender deployed the Reid technique while interrogating Dassey. Dassey had been interrogated at the Mishicot High School, Two Rivers Police Department, the Fox Hills Resort and the Manitowoc County Sheriffs Department. The defence counsel for Dassey, Steven Drizin and Laura Nirider have released a video analysis of that interview that addresses the circumstances that may result in a coerced confession.

Trials

Dassey stood trial on April 16, 2007 with a sequestered jury from Dane County, in a trial that would last nine days with a verdict delivered on April 25, 2007. His counsel Kachinsky was removed on August 26, 2006 , and Dassey was ultimately represented by Ray Edelstein and Mark Fremgen. Subsequent court documents have shown documented jury tampering. Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz and Judge Jerome Fox and a jury who deliberated for four hours found Dassey guilty of first-degree intentional homicide, second-degree sexual assault and mutilation of a corpse via a jury of his peers beyond a reasonable doubt as an accessory to his uncle in the death of Teresa Halbach - this verdict was passed in the absence of DNA to the crime and based solely on his confession which he recanted and claimed was coerced. Dassey was tried and sentenced as an adult; his age and intellectual limitations were not a factor in this process. Dassey, at the age of 17 years and 6 months, was sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole in 2048.

Appeals

• 15 January 2010: Dassey's post-conviction motion gets underway with new defence representation, Steven Drizin, Laura Nirider and Robert Dvorak
• 13 December 2010: Judge Fox denies Dassey's motion for a retrial
• 30 January 2013: The Wisconsin Supreme Court of Appeals upholds Judge Fox's decision
• 1 August 2013: The Wisconsin Supreme Court denies Dassey's request to review his case.
• 20 October 2014: Writ of Habeas Corpus petition was filed by Laura Nirider Bluhm Legal Clinic, Northwestern University School of Law
• 4 May 2015: Denied by Attorney General Brad Schimel.
• 4 June 2015: Refiled Habeas petition - currently awaiting a decision

A Habeas Corpus petition now sits with Judge William E. Duffin, a federal magistrate appointed in March 2014. First filed on 20th October 2014 and refiled after rebuttal on June 4, 2015, by Laura Nirider of the Bluhm Legal Clinic, Northwestern University School of Law and Robert Dvorak, of Halling & Cayo Milwaukee as counsel for Dassey.

Public response

The release of Making a Murderer in December 2015 has been met with international acclaim and has contributed to the way in which mainstream society now interprets and discusses the law. Due to the confrontational nature of the videotaped interrogations, there have been calls for the exoneration of Dassey with petitions for his freedom and the implementation of "Brendan Dassey's Law"

The United States Supreme Court describes a custodial interrogation as an interrogation where: "a reasonable person would have felt he or she was not at liberty to terminate the interrogation and leave." Even if a minor has the legal right to get up and walk out, the vast majority of minors would have no idea that they had that option. Therefore, it is reasonable to view any interrogation of a minor as a custodial interrogation. For these reasons, Brendan Dassey's Law should impose the following safeguards: Require that an attorney be present during any custodial interrogation of a minor. This should be viewed as a nonwaivable right. Require law enforcement to inform a minor before an interrogation begins that he or she could be charged as an adult based on information obtained during an interrogation. Wisconsin law currently falls short, as it only requires law enforcement to immediately attempt to notify the child’s parent or guardian..

Petitions were also raised for Dassey's exoneration and investigation of the police officers who interrogated him, in December 2015 and January 2016, on the Federal government's We The People website. Rallies were held in support of the exoneration of Dassey, with the first taking place in London on April 2 led by the actress Miriam Margolyes and prison rights activist Shaun Attwood, followed by Melbourne, Sydney and Perth on the 30 May 2016 in Australia and Manchester, and in the UK and the United States on June 11 2016.. Supporters are now communicating with Dassey via letters, and contributing to his prison commissary. Dassey is currently incarcerated at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin where he awaits news of his Habeas petition.