Brendan Dassey, one of two Wisconsin men found guilty in 2007 in the sexual assault and killing of a photographer and who were featured in the Netflix documentary Making a Murderer, should be freed from prison while the state appeals a ruling overturning his conviction, a federal judge ruled Monday.
The order to free Dassey, 27, came less than a year after the popular 10-part series by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos suggested that the police had unfairly questioned Dassey, then 16, without a lawyer or parent present.
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Murder verdict featured on Netflix show overturned
The murder conviction Brendan Dassey, whose case was featured on the Netflix program, "Making a Murderer", has been overturned by a judge in Wisconsin.
It suggested he was mentally unfit, was coerced into a confession that he later recanted, and that his court-appointed lawyer, Len Kachinsky, was content to cut a deal.
Dassey was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and first-degree sexual assault. Prosecutors said he had participated with his uncle Steven Avery in the murder of the photographer, Teresa Halbach, 25. Dassey was sentenced in 2007 to life in prison.
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After the federal judge, William E. Duffin, overturned Dassey's convictions in August, the state's attorney general, Brad Shimel, appealed the ruling. The decision Monday allows Dassey to go free during the appeal.
It was not immediately clear when Dassey would be released, but the ruling by Duffin concluded that he posed little flight risk or danger to others. The authorities have "failed to demonstrate that Dassey represents a present danger to the community," the ruling read.
It noted that his "prison disciplinary record is exceedingly benign," including accepting several packets of Ramen noodles from another inmate without permission from prison authorities, having items with tape on them and using prison forms to keep score in games. He was seen as cooperative and requiring minimal supervision.
Dassey is required to provide an address of his intended residence by Tuesday. According to the terms of the release, he must remain in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, which covers an area including Milwaukee, Green Bay and his home in Manitowoc County.
He is not allowed to obtain a passport, possess weapons or controlled substances, or to make contact with Avery or the family of Halbach. He will also be monitored by probation officers.
Avery is serving a life sentence, and a new lawyer, Kathleen Zellner, took up his case in January. She has said she hopes new forensic testing and evidence would lead to his exoneration, or at least to a new trial.
New York Times