Release Of 'Making A Murderer' Subject Brendan Dassey Blocked By Federal Court

By Stephen Gossett in News on Nov 17, 2016 6:59PM

Brendan Dassey in 'Making a Murderer'

A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled against the release of Making a Murderer subject Brendan Dassey, who was scheduled to be set free from prison on Friday.

Dassey was ordered released under supervision by a lower court earlier this week pending an appeal of his homicide conviction, but the seventh circuit court of appeals in Wisconsin sided with state Attorney General Brad Schimel. The state chief legal advisor had filed an emergency motion to stay Dassey’s release.

Dassey was convicted of being party to first-degree murder, mutilation of a corpse, and second-degree sexual assault in the killing of Teresa Halbach. He was sentenced to life with a possibility of parole in 2048. But the conviction and sentence were overturned in August of this year.

Although the Netflix documentary series came under some fire for what critics charged was strategic omission of details and emotional manipulation, it's difficult for anyone with eyeballs to watch Dassey's interrogation sequence—in which the then-16-year-old seems to have little comprehension of the stakes and process—and feel comfortable. The series, and especially the interrogation, sparked a heated debate about wrongful convictions and coerced confessions.