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Supreme Court Won't Hear Case For 'Making A Murderer' Convict Brendan Dassey
The decision came after justices held a closed-door meeting to discuss whether to hear Brendan Dassey’s case.
"Making a Murderer" won't be making it to the Supreme Court.
The nation's highest court on Monday announced it will not take up the case of Brendan Dassey, a central figure in the Netflix series that suggests he was wrongfully convicted for murder when he was a teen.
The Supreme Court’s decision came after justices held a closed-door meeting Thursday to discuss whether to hear Dassey’s case.
"We will continue to fight to free Brendan Dassey," one of his attorneys, Laura Nirider, said in a statement after the announcement. She said Dassey was "confused" and "manipulated' when he gave the confession that helped bring his conviction.
In her statement, she said research shows that people under age 18 are more likely to falsely confess than adults.
The 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago had previously ruled that Dassey had spoken freely and with his mother's consent after hearing his Miranda rights, CNN reported. The judges also said he offered several incriminating details. Lower courts previously said that Dassey's confession was involuntary.
Lawyers for the state of Wisconsin said that police used standard interviewing techniques when Dassey, now 28, confessed.
Dassey was 16 when he confessed in 2006 to helping his uncle Steven Avery rape and kill photographer Teresa Halbach one year prior. "Making a Murderer" focuses on the Halbach murder, and questions if Dassey was pressured into a false confession.
His lawyers said his confession, which was taped and aired in portions of the series, shouldn’t have been used to convict him. Court filings revealed that Dassey’s IQ is about 80. “Making a Murderer” pointed out that he is a slow learner.
Dassey and Avery are both serving life sentences in Wisconsin for the 2005 murder. "Making A Murderer" raised questions about the conviction, leading many to believe Avery and Dassey are innocent. The documentary suggested that police might have planted evidence on Avery’s Manitowoc County property and that investigators took advantage of Dassey’s limited intellect to coax him into confessing.
[Photo: Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office]
