Brendan Dassey komt vrij

’Making a Murderer’s Brendan Dassey komt vrij’

Milwaukee - Brendan Dassey, een van de mannen uit de bekende Netflix-docu Making a Murderer, komt mogelijk snel vrij. Een rechter heeft de veroordeling van Dassey vrijdag vernietigd.

De 26-jarige Dassey kreeg in 2007 levenslange celstraf opgelegd voor de moord op fotograaf Teresa Halbach, die hij in 2005 zou hebben gepleegd. De rechter heeft nu geoordeeld dat de rechercheurs Dasseys bekentenis hebben ontfutseld door de destijds 16-jarige jongen ’valse beloftes’ te doen, meldt ABC News, dat documenten over de zaak in zijn bezit heeft.

Volgens de rechter was zijn bekentenis, mede vanwege zijn leeftijd, zijn intellectuele vermogens en de afwezigheid een volwassene, ’onvrijwillig’.

Dassey zal binnen drie maanden vrijkomen, tenzij het Openbaar Ministerie beroep aantekent.

http://www.telegraaf.nl/b(...)ey_komt_vrij___.html

'Making a Murderer': Brendan Dassey's Conviction Overturned

A federal judge in Milwaukee has overturned the conviction of Brendan Dassey -- one of the men featured in the controversial Netflix true crime series "Making a Murderer."

Dassey, 26, was convicted as a teenager, along with his uncle Steven Avery, of murdering Teresa Halbach in 2005. Both were convicted in 2007, and Dassey was sentenced to life in prison.

The story of the arrest and conviction of both men, including Avery -- who was wrongfully convicted of rape years earlier -- captivated the nation after "Making a Murderer" was released last year.

Some believed Avery, 54, was targeted by officials after he sued for $36 million in 2005 in the wake of his rape conviction being overturned, an allegation police and prosecutors vehemently denied.

Dassey's conviction raised eyebrows for some because of how his videotaped confession was conducted. At the time of the police interrogation, Dassey was a high school sophomore in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. He had a low I.Q. and was enrolled in several special education classes.

In the Netflix docu-series, he was depicted as a confused and intellectually challenged teen, who often turned to his mother to help him comprehend his interactions with police.

In court documents obtained by ABC News, a judge ruled that Dassey's confession was obtained by investigators giving the then 16-year-old "false promises." The documents stated that "investigators repeatedly claimed to already know what happened...and assured Dassey that he had nothing to worry about."

Court documents also showed that during the four-hour interrogation, investigators told Dassey leading statements such as: "Tell us, and what else did you do? Come on. Something with the head, Brendan?"

Along with "Dassey’s age, intellectual deficits, and the absence of a supportive adult," the confession was ruled "involuntary."

"Dassey’s borderline to below average intellectual ability likely made him more susceptible to coercive pressures than a peer of higher intellect" and the teen lacked having "the benefit of an adult present to look out for his interests," the document said.

The documents also said that the "use of leading questions and disclosure of non-public facts makes it difficult to evaluate whether Dassey really knew the facts or was simply agreeing with the investigators." The ruling added that investigators only concluded their line of questioning after they had "indicated to Dassey that he finally gave the answer they were looking for."

Dassey lived at the Avery family auto salvage yard next door to his uncle, who had been released from prison in 2003 after serving 18 years for a rape he didn’t commit.

Dassey’s confession was used as the main piece of evidence by prosecutors during the trial.

On the stand, Dassey insisted that he made up his confession to police, but he was still convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, mutilation of a corpse and first-degree sexual assault. He was serving a life sentence with a chance for early release in 2048.

Halbach was a freelance photographer, who had come to the Avery property to take pictures of a car Avery was selling.

ABC News reached out to former prosecutor Ken Kratz, who handled Avery and Dassey's murder trials, requesting comment, but hasn't received word back yet.

http://abcnews.go.com/Ent(...)ed/story?id=41338974

[ Bericht 3% gewijzigd door StaceySinger op 13-08-2016 01:12:08 ]

De veroordeling van Brendan Dassey, bekend van de documentaire-serie Making a Murderer, is vernietigd door een Amerikaanse rechter.
De rechter oordeelde vrijdag dat de oorspronkelijke veroordeling grotendeels is gebaseerd op verklaringen van de destijds 16-jarige jongen die "op basis van valse voorwendselen" zijn verkregen.

"De onderzoekers beweerden tijdens het verhoor meerdere malen dat ze al wisten dat Dassey de moord had gepleegd", aldus de verklaring van de rechter. "Daarnaast maakten ze valse beloften. Dassey was bovendien heel jong, is verstandelijk beperkt en werd niet ondersteund door een volwassene."

Als het Openbaar Ministerie Dassey niet binnen negentig dagen opnieuw aanklaagt, wordt Dassey vrijgelaten.

Dassey is de neef van Steven Avery, die momenteel levenslang vastzit voor de moord op Teresa Halbach. Dassey werd veroordeeld voor opzettelijke doodslag, verkrachting en verminking van een lijk. Hij was zestien jaar toen Halbach in 2005 werd vermoord.

Fouten
De serie Making a Murderer reconstrueert hoe Avery, een autosloper uit Winsconsin, tot twee keer toe wordt aangeklaagd door justitie.

Van het eerste vergrijp, een brute verkrachting, werd nadat hij achttien jaar in de cel had gezeten bewezen dat hij onschuldig was. Vervolgens werd de man beschuldigd van een gruwelijke moord. Ook in dit onderzoek maakten politie en justitie veel fouten en slordigheden.

Avery's neef, Dassey, wordt medeplichtig aan de moord bevonden. Beiden zitten momenteel nog in de gevangenis. De serie zet vraagtekens bij hun schuld.

Een tweede seizoen van de Netflix-serie is momenteel in de maak. Het is nog niet bekend wanneer de nieuwe afleveringen verschijnen.

Door: NU.nl

Etterbak Michael O'Kelly


False confessions are most common amongst juveniles and individuals with low IQs -- and Dassey falls into both those categories. He was 16 at the time of his interrogation and his IQ has been reported to be 70. A study conducted by Northwestern Law looked at 340 exonerations of both adults and juveniles. It showed that 42 percent of juvenile wrongful convictions involved false confessions, while only 13 percent of the exonerated adults had confessed. Research published by Psychology and Law showed that individuals with low IQs are more likely to make false confessions. In both juveniles and low IQ individuals, the reasoning behind the false confessions is that they have a lower understanding of the long-term consequences of their actions. Furthermore, they're more likely to feel frightened and confused during an interrogation -- which means they can be more easily manipulated into telling authority figures what they want to hear.

http://www.bustle.com/art(...)g-far-less-attention

[ Bericht 27% gewijzigd door StaceySinger op 13-08-2016 12:44:51 ]

Het werd gisteravond bekend: Brendan Dassey, de neef van de hoofdverdachte uit de Netflix documentaire-serie Making a Murderer, moet binnen 90 dagen worden vrijgelaten. De bekentenis die leidde tot zijn veroordeling wordt onvrijwillig genoemd en daar zal de populariteit van de serie zeker bij geholpen hebben. Maar heeft dit ook gevolgen voor de hoofdverdachte in deze geruchtmakende zaak, Steven Avery?

Op het eerste gezicht zal het weinig gevolgen hebben, want Dasseys bekentenis, waarin hij zei dat hij medeplichtig was aan de moord waar de zaak om draait, werd niet gebruikt als bewijsmateriaal in de zaak tegen Avery. Maar de bekentenis van Dassey kwam wel uitgebreid in de media tijdens het proces van Avery, waardoor de jury er van op de hoogte was.

Daarnaast werd de belangrijkste tijdlijn die gebruikt werd in de zaak gebaseerd op de bekentenis van de toen 16-jarige jongen en dat kan wel iets betekenen voor Avery. "Eerder wees fysiek bewijs er al op dat de tijdlijn niet klopte en dat het niet gegaan was zoals Dassey zei dat het was gegaan", zei Avery's oud-advocaat daarover. Een nieuwe tijdlijn van de dagen rondom de moord kan misschien Avery's onschuld of schuld aantonen.
Zowel Dassey als zijn oom Steven Avery werden in 2007 veroordeeld tot een levenslange gevangenisstraf voor de moord op de 25-jarige Teresa Halbach. Zij verdween nadat zij op de autosloperij van de Avery-familie was geweest om foto's te maken van enkele auto's.

De serie die Netflix over de moordzaak maakte in 2015 werd veel bekeken en deed veel stof opwaaien. In de documentaire wordt de legitimiteit van beide veroordelingen in twijfel getrokken. Zo zou volgens Avery's advocaten onder meer bewijsmateriaal zijn neergelegd door politie in zijn huis.

De zaak loopt nog volop, want Steven Avery heeft zich niet neergelegd bij zijn veroordeling. Hij is bezig met zijn hoger beroep, eind augustus beginnen de zittingen.
De huidige advocaat van de hoofdverdachte hoopt dat nu de neef vrijuit er misschien strenger naar de rol van de politie gekeken in de rechtszaak. "Brendans zaak laat zien dat agenten een crimineel verhaal kunnen verzinnen. Stevens zaak gaat laten zien dat agenten ook bewijsmateriaal kunnen verzinnen."

Maar de veroordeling van Dassey is alleen gebaseerd op zijn bekentenis. Die van Avery niet. Een kogel met Halbachs dna werd in zijn garage gevonden. Haar auto werd op zijn terrein gevonden. Haar camera en telefoon werden verbrand op zijn terrein teruggevonden en volgens forensische experts zou het lichaam van Halbach in een vuur naast Avery's huis zijn verbrand.

Dit bewijs was er niet tegen Dassey, dus de vrijlating van Dassey zal waarschijnlijk weinig invloed hebben op Avery's zaak. Wel is volgens Avery's huidige advocaat veel ander nieuw bewijsmateriaal dat ervoor gaat zorgen dat hij vrij zal komen in de toekomst.

De makers van Making a Murderer zijn inmiddels bezig met een tweede seizoen van de documentaireserie, waarin dit nieuwe bewijsmateriaal ook zal worden besproken. Zij reageerden opgetogen op het nieuws over Dassey. "We blijven het verhaal volgen, iets wat we al tien jaar lang doen. We volgen het waar het ons ook heen zal brengen", zei het team in een verklaring. "Vandaag was een enorme ontwikkeling voor de personen in ons verhaal en dit recente nieuws laat het criminele rechtssysteem aan het werk zien."

NOS.nl

Defense Lawyer ... I Screwed Up Brendan Dassey's Police Interview


Defense Lawyer Len Kachinsky

https://www.reddit.com/r/(...)why_brendan_dasseys/

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

PDF (91 pages)

What Does 'Making a Murderer' Subject Brendan Dassey's Release Mean For Steven Avery?

A Lawyer Explains



Brendan Dassey, the nephew of Making a Murderer subject Steven Avery, just scored a major victory in his fight for justice. On Friday, his 2007 state-court-issued conviction and sentence of life in prison was overturned by a Wisconsin federal court. The Court ordered that Dassey, now 26 years old, be released within 90 days, unless the State of Wisconsin decides to retry him. The State also has the ability to appeal the order. How did this unlikely result happen? And what does it mean for Avery's own conviction?

Last year Netflix released the critically acclaimed documentary series, Making a Murderer, which detailed Avery’s lifelong battle with the criminal justice system. In 2003, he was exonerated by DNA evidence after spending nearly 18 years in prison for a sexual assault he did not commit. Just three years later, a local photographer went missing during her workday with Steven Avery as her last appointment. In 2007, after a turbulent trial, he was found guilty for Theresa Halbach’s rape and murder and was sentenced to life in prison. Avery maintains that he is innocent.

Early on in the trial, Avery’s learning-disabled teen nephew Brendan Dassey provided him an alibi. He was, admittedly, a slow learner with “difficulties in the ‘social aspects of communication’ such as ‘understanding and using nonverbal cues, facial expressions, eye contact, body language, tone of voice.’” In the investigation surrounding the murder, Dassey emerged as a suspected co-conspirator after a series of interrogations without a lawyer or adult present. Amid a sequence of leading questions, Dassey confessed to sexually assaulting Halbach and aiding his uncle with the murder and subsequent cover-up. He later recanted his confession; on cross examination in his trial he stated that the acts to which he had admitted “didn’t really happen” and that his confession was “made up.” Nonetheless, in 2007, he was found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide, second-degree sexual assault, and mutilation of a corpse and was sentenced to life in prison.

In recent years, Avery and Dassey have both separately launched campaigns of appeals and legal challenges; Dassey’s pointed to ineffective assistance of counsel and a coerced confession, and Avery’s alleged that the Manitowoc County Police had framed him. In 2010, Dassey unsuccessfully applied for post-conviction relief at the trial court level. His appeal of that refusal was denied by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in 2013, and several months later, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin denied his petition for review.

After exhausting his options for relief in the State court system, on October 20, 2014, Dassey filed a writ of habeas corpus in federal court. The writ of habeas corpus is very much the “hail mary” of the criminal justice system. In order for a habeas writ to be granted, a federal court must find that either the state court’s decision was contrary to or involved an unreasonable application of federal law, or that it was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts. A court cannot grant the “writ because the federal court disagrees, or even strongly disagrees, with the state court’s decision.” Instead, “a state court’s decision must not be merely wrong, but so wrong that no reasonable judge have reached that decision.” Basically, the writ allows a federal court, in truly extreme circumstances, to overturn a verdict of a state court. Habeas writs are rarely successful; the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel estimates that 99% of all habeas corpus claims fail.

The Federal Court considered Dassey’s claims that 1) he had been denied his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel and 2) his confession was coerced and should not have been relied upon to convict him. With reference to the first claim, Dassey pointed to his former lawyer Len Kachinsky’s apparent collusion with the prosecution and argued that that amounted to a serious conflict of interest. The Court reviewed this claim and noted that “Kachinsky’s conduct was inexcusable, both tactically and ethically,” but it did not rise to the level of a conflict of interest under the framework that Dassey’s legal team invoked.

The Court, however, did find Dassey’s favor on the second claim, acknowledging “significant doubts on the reliability” of his March 1, 2006, confession. The Court found that “the investigators exploited the absence of such an adult by repeatedly suggesting that they were looking out for his interests,” taking advantage of his “borderline to below average intellectual ability likely made him more susceptible to coercive pressure.” In short, Dassey, well aware of some of the case facts from media coverage, gave a confession detailing a murder story consistent with these facts, as a result of investigators' leading questions and statements. This was because the investigators had “led Dassey to believe that he would not be punished for telling them the incriminating details they professed to already know,” and suggested that he would be punished if he didn’t provide a story in line with their version of the truth.

The popularity and attention surrounding Making a Murderer undoubtedly has had an affect on the legal outcomes for Avery and Dassey. The widespread awareness of their story likely allowed them to obtain more experienced and distinguished legal counsel. In Avery’s case, Reddit users have been combing evidence last week, some claimed to have made a discovery that proves Avery’s innocence. Regardless of the veracity of these claims, they keep Avery in the forefront of people’s minds and increase the possibility that there will be a development in his case.

Since the pair were tried and convicted separately, Dassey's new freedom has no immediate effect on Avery’s legal battle. Avery’s conviction relied heavily on DNA evidence, which he contends was planted. The jury did rely on Dassey’s timeline of events, and it is possible that they gleaned other details from his testimony. To the extent that Dassey’s statements were used in any way to convict Avery, they could be excluded, but given the existence of stronger evidence it probably won’t matter much. Although Avery’s previous challenges were unsuccessful, his lawyer recently filed a new appeal citing due process violations. A brief in support of the appeal, detailing these violations, is due to be filed at the end of August.

The Federal court’s grant of a measure as extreme as habeas writ is nonetheless significant, and suggests a level of abject distrust in the authorities that handled the investigation of Halbach’s murder. To the extent that the investigators’ unethical and illegal behavior in coercing a confession from Dassey might be reflective of their behavior in other respects, perhaps this judgment opens the door for Avery’s absolution. Avery’s lawyer tweeted yesterday that “Brendan’s opinion shows cops made up crime story. Steven’s will show cops made up crime evidence.” This sentiment is consistent with the Federal court’s apparent mistrust of the Manitowoc County Police Department’s investigation.

It remains to be seen how Avery will invoke this decision in his case, if at all. Despite a lack of direct implications on Avery’s fate, the Federal court’s willingness to stand up to state authorities in this manner may reflect a changing tide in the muddy waters of his case. If Dassey was able to overcome such a strong presumption in the state’s favor to render his confession inadmissible, Avery too could finally find himself in a court where his case sees a similar change in trajectory.

Jessica Meiselman is an attorney based in Brooklyn.

http://www.complex.com/po(...)d&utm_medium=twitter

twitter:

ZellnerLaw twitterde op zondag 14-08-2016 om 22:35:53 If you think Dasseys confession wasn't used against SA think again. https://t.co/iN2jqIRn1Q via @HuffPostCrime reageer retweet

Moeder Brendan Dassey viert vrijlating

De moeder van Brendan Dassey (26) uit de Netflix-documentaire Making A Murderer vierde - nog voordat zij hoorde dat hij na 9 jaar vrij zou komen - op opmerkelijke wijze zijn nieuwe vonnis...

Haar timing had beter gekund, want Brendans moeder Barb besloot minuten vóór dat ze überhaupt de rechtbank betrad een tatoeage op haar been te zetten met 'Gerechtigheid voor Brendan'. Een familievriend besloot overigens een matchende tattoo te nemen.

Barb denkt nu dat de tattoo geluk heeft gebracht voor Brendan.

Valse beloftes

Het neefje van Steven Avery uit de Netflix-documentaire Making A Murderer werd, samen met zijn oom, veroordeeld voor de moord op Teresa Halbach. Nu, na 9 jaar, komt hij mogelijk vrij.

De jongen, die 16 jaar was toen hij werd verhoord, was door de rechercheurs meerdere malen beloofd dat hij zich nergens zorgen over hoefde te maken.


http://www.telegraaf.nl/p(...)rt_vrijlating__.html