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20th Dec 2016

Brendan Dassey’s Release – When, Why And What Took So F*cking Long

Alana Laverty

Making A Murderer took over most of our lives last Christmas when it was first released on Netflix. 

And we’ve been avidly following any developments in both Steven Avery’s and Brendan Dassey’s cases ever since. 

So you can only imagine how delighted we were last night to find out that Brendan Dassey’s conviction had been overturned by a federal judge in Milwaukee after being sentenced to life in prison in 2005.

Why?

The court found that Brendan’s original confession was involuntary under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, according to court documents.

Duh. 

We all knew that those cops had coerced him. And that his dodgy, crook-of-a-lawyer at the time, Len Kachinsky, took advantage of a very confused teenager and made him write that confession. The court described Len’s ‘misconduct’ as ‘indefensible’.

What next?

US Magistrate Judge, William Duffin, has ordered that Brendan will be ‘released from custody unless, within 90 days of the date of this decision, the State initiates proceedings to retry him.’

Which could well happen, but for now we are hoping that this poor lad gets out for good. 

But what about Steven Avery?

His new lawyer has said that Steven is ‘happy’ for his nephew and hopeful that this new development will mean good things for him too. 

What Making A Murderer’s producers had to say

‘Today there was a major development for the subjects in our story and this recent news shows the criminal justice system at work. As we have done for the past 10 years, we will continue to document the story as it unfolds, and follow it wherever it may lead.’

We’re on the edge of our seats to see what will happen next…

And are hoping and praying that Steven will soon be acquitted too. 

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