Story highlights Brendan Dassey was set to be released until Wisconsin attorney general fought ruling

Netflix's "Making a Murderer" posits investigators took advantage of Dassey's age, intellect

(CNN) A federal appeals court Thursday blocked the release of Brendan Dassey, the teen whose confession became a subplot in Netflix's "Making a Murderer."

The ruling represents a win for Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, who had fought the release.

Now 27, Dassey was set to be freed under the supervision of the US Probation Office, but Schimel filed a motion Tuesday seeking a stay of US Magistrate Judge William Duffin's decision to release Dassey pending the appeal of his 2007 murder conviction.

In 2005, Dassey, then 16, confessed to authorities that he assisted his uncle, Steven Avery, in raping and killing photographer Teresa Halbach, whose charred remains were found on Avery family property in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin.

The case was chronicled in the 10-part Netflix series "Making a Murderer," which suggested that investigators took advantage of Dassey's youth and limited intellect to coax him into confessing to a crime he didn't commit.</s>A federal appeals court has blocked the release of Brendan Dassey, one of the subjects in Netflix’s documentary series Making a Murderer, just days after a lower court ordered him to be released from prison.

The decision from a three-judge panel in the seventh circuit court of appeals in the latest development in a years-long legal battle by Dassey to secure his release and overturn his conviction for the murder 2005 of Teresa Halbach, a local Wisconsin photographer.

On Monday, a US magistrate judge, William Duffin, ordered Dassey to be released under court-ordered supervision, three months after having overturned his conviction. Wisconsin’s attorney general, Brad Schimel, immediately announced he planned to file an emergency motion to block Dassey’s release.

In a short order issued on Thursday, the appellate judges stayed Duffin’s decision, pending the outcome of the state’s appeal.

“The district court’s order releasing appellee Brendan Dassey is stayed pending resolution of this appeal,” the order stated.

In the emergency motion filed by Mr Schimel, the state argued that Dassey admitted to the crime in “extensive detail”, however Mr Duffin - as well as Dassey’s attorneys - have characterised the confession as “involuntary”.

“This case involves the brutal rape, murder, and mutilation of Teresa Halbach that 16-year-old Brendan Dassey committed with his uncle, Steven Avery,” Mr Schimel wrote. “Dassey admitted to his crimes in extensive detail, in an entirely voluntary confession, during which investigators used techniques that courts around the country have approved time and again.”

Dassey, 27, has been incarcerated since 2007 over the murder of Halbach. Along with his uncle, Steven Avery, the pair were found guilty in Halbach’s death in separate trials.

The story drew notoriety for Avery’s connection. Before his arrest over Halbach’s murder, he was seen as the face of a US judicial system that can unfairly convict someone: for 18 years, Avery was jailed for a rape he didn’t commit. Eventually, he was exonerated through DNA evidence.

The Netflix series Making a Murderer drew national attention to the Halbach case, particularly for the investigation into Dassey, and what was perceived by his attorneys and Duffin as “indefensible” treatment from his first trial attorney.

Dassey’s attorney told the Guardian last year that his remarks to police “fit the profile of a [FALSE]confession to an absolute T”. The investigators, for example, suggested he would receive leniency for complying and fed facts “to get Brendan to say how Ms Halbach died”, said the attorney, Laura Nirider.

Judge Duffin agreed. “These repeated false promises, when considered in conjunction with all relevant factors, most especially Dassey’s age, intellectual deficits, and the absence of a supportive adult, rendered Dassey’s confession involuntary under the fifth and 14th amendments,” Judge Duffin wrote in his 91-page ruling.

Judge Duffin cast doubt in his ruling on the state’s chances of success in appealing against his earlier decision to overturn Dassey’s conviction and said there was “no indication” that Dassey “has the inclination much less the means to flee”. He later ordered him released by 8pm on Friday.

“Dassey has offered a detailed release plan that was prepared with the assistance of a clinical social worker with experience in similar cases,” the judge wrote. “That social worker would remain involved in assisting Dassey as he adjusts to freedom following his decade in prison.”

The state countered, saying it has an “extremely high likelihood” of succeeding on its appeal “because the techniques the investigators used here have been approved by numerous courts.”

The Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth, the legal clinic representing Dassey, said it was disappointed by the decision.

“We are disappointed more than words can say,” the firm said in a statement. “The fight goes on.”</s>MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin prison inmate whose case was featured in the Netflix series “Making a Murderer” is pressing a federal appeals court to let him walk free.

 

 A federal judge in August overturned Brendan Dassey’s conviction in the 2005 death of photographer Teresa Halbach. The state Justice Department has appealed that ruling. Still, the judge on Wednesday ordered Dassey released from prison by 8 p.m. Friday.

 

 The Justice Department filed an emergency motion with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday asking it to block the release, arguing Dassey’s confession was voluntary and that the 27-year-old inmate poses a danger to society.

 

 Dassey’s attorneys filed a reply brief late Wednesday arguing that Dassey has behaved well in prison and that the state hasn’t identified any harm that might come from his release.</s>The ruling represents a win for Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, who had fought the release.

Now 27, Dassey was set to be freed under the supervision of the US Probation Office, but Schimel filed a motion Tuesday seeking a stay of US Magistrate Judge William Duffin's decision to release Dassey pending the appeal of his 2007 murder conviction.

In 2005, Dassey, then 16, confessed to authorities that he assisted his uncle, Steven Avery, in raping and killing photographer Teresa Halbach, whose charred remains were found on Avery family property in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin.

The case was chronicled in the 10-part Netflix series "Making a Murderer," which suggested that investigators took advantage of Dassey's youth and limited intellect to coax him into confessing to a crime he didn't commit.

Steven Avery's ex-fiancé: He is not innocent Steven Avery's ex-fiancé: He is not innocent Court documents stated that Dassey IQ's was "assessed as being in the low average to borderline range." Dassey, now incarcerated in the state's Columbia Correctional Institution, later recanted. In a September motion following a lower court ruling in Dassey's favor, Schimel said two state courts had examined evidence in the case and determined that Dassey's confession was voluntary and not the product of "constitutionally impermissible tactics." "We believe the magistrate judge's decision that Brendan Dassey's confession was coerced by investigators, and that no reasonable court could have concluded otherwise, is wrong on the facts and wrong on the law," Schimel said in a statement, adding that he had the support of Halbach's family. 5 things to know about "Marking a Murderer" Duffin overturned Dassey's conviction in August, citing the manner in which the confession was attained. He called it "so clearly involuntary in a constitutional sense that the court of appeals' decision to the contrary was an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law." "The court's decision rests on a fundamental principle that is too often forgotten by courts and law enforcement officers: Interrogation tactics which may not be coercive when used on adults are coercive when used on juveniles, particularly young people like Brendan with disabilities," Dassey's attorneys said in an August statement. Dassey will stay in prison pending the outcome of the appeal. He maintained his innocence throughout his original trial. He said he was framed and is seeking a new trial</s>In the case spotlighted in the Netflix documentary "Making a Murderer," Brendan Dassey, who was convicted at 17 of first-degree intentional homicide, second-degree sexual assault and mutilation of a corpse, was set to be released on Friday.

But prosecutors requested he remain in prison, and on Thursday a federal appeals court in Chicago agreed.

In a terse ruling that did not explain their reasons, a panel of three judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decided that Dassey stay in prison pending appeals in the 2005 case.

The decision halted a ruling by a federal judge that overturned Dassey's conviction last August and ordered his release.

In overturning the conviction, Magistrate Judge William Duffin of the Eastern District of Wisconsin said Dassey, who is learning disabled, was coerced into confessing to crimes in the lurid case.

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel is appealing the ruling. In an emergency request filed Wednesday, he reiterated the gruesome nature of the crime and said Dassey should not be released until the state's appeals are resolved.

Dassey, now 27, and his uncle, Steven Avery, were convicted in separate trials of killing photographer Teresa Halbach at Avery's home. Her charred remains were found in an incineration barrel and a burn pit on Avery's property, about 80 miles (130 km) north of Milwaukee.

Netflix released a 10-part documentary "Making a Murderer," which questioned the handling of the investigation and the motives of Manitowoc County law enforcement officials.

The documentary recounts how Avery was convicted of an earlier, unrelated rape and sent to prison in 1985, serving 18 years before DNA evidence exonerated him and he was released.</s>Making a Murderer subject Brendan Dassey has suffered yet another blow in his bid for freedom after an appeals court blocked his release from prison.

He had been given the green light for release by a lower court earlier this week with a judge rejecting the state's claim the 26-year-old, who was convicted of murder a decade ago, posed a risk.

But now a federal court has granted an emergency motion to stay that order, according to Buzzfeed .

In August, Judge Duffin overturned Dassey's conviction for the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach after finding "significant doubts as to the reliability of [his] confession".

The 90-page ruling that Dassey's constitutional rights had been violated during and in the lead up to his trial in 2007 over the murder.

Photographer Halbach went missing on Halloween 2005, with police confirming her charred remains had been discovered in a burn pit on the Avery Salvage Yard in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin ten days later, along with her Toyota RAV4, mobile phone and car keys.

Dassey confessed to helping his uncle Steven Avery rape and murder of Halbach during an unsupervised interview with two investigators in March 2006.

He was found guilty of the first-degree intentional homicide, second-degree sexual assault, and mutilation of a corpse of Teresa Halbach after a nine day trial in 2007.

His conviction, chronicled on the Netflix series Making A Murderer alongside that of his uncle, Steven Avery, attracted worldwide attention and even led to requests to President Obama for the pair to be pardoned.</s>MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin prison inmate whose case was featured in the Netflix series "Making a Murderer" will stay behind bars while state attorneys appeal a decision overturning his conviction, a panel of federal appellate judges ruled Thursday.

Brendan Dassey's release from prison appeared imminent right up until the three-judge panel from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago issued its decision. Television crews and reporters were staking out the prison in Portage where Dassey is being held, waiting for him to walk out at any minute, when the ruling came down around midday.

"We are disappointed more than words can say," Dassey's attorneys, Steve Drizin and Laura Nirider, said in a statement posted online shortly after the ruling was released. "The fight goes on."

Dassey, now 27, was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 in the death of photographer Teresa Halbach two years earlier. He confessed to detectives that he helped his uncle, Steven Avery, rape and kill Halbach in the Avery family's salvage yard in Manitowoc County. Avery was sentenced to life in prison in a separate proceeding.

Avery and Dassey contend they were framed by police angry with Avery for filing a lawsuit against the county over his wrongful imprisonment for a sexual assault he didn't commit. He's pursuing his own appeal in state court.

Their cases gained national attention last year after Netflix aired "Making a Murderer," a multi-part documentary examining Halbach's death. The series spawned widespread conjecture about the pair's innocence. Authorities who worked on the cases said the documentary was biased but the series generated calls from the public to free both men.

U.S. Magistrate Judge William Duffin ruled in August that investigators coerced Dassey, who was 16 years old at the time and suffered from cognitive problems, into confessing and overturned his conviction. Duffin said in the decision that if state attorneys appealed the ruling Dassey would remain in prison pending a resolution.

The state Justice Department filed an appeal that is still working its way through the 7th Circuit. But this week Duffin ordered Dassey released from prison by 8 p.m. Friday.

The DOJ filed an emergency motion with the 7th Circuit on Wednesday seeking to block the release, arguing Duffin's release order contradicts his original ruling in which he said Dassey would remain in prison pending the appeal's resolution, Dassey's interrogators used techniques that courts around the country have repeatedly approved and Dassey presents a danger to society.

Drizin and Nirider countered with a filing that argued Dassey has behaved in prison and the state hasn't identified any harm that might come from his release.

The 7th Circuit judges — Frank Easterbrook, Kenneth Ripple and David Hamilton — issued a two-page ruling Thursday saying only that the state's emergency motion was granted and Dassey will remain behind bars pending the outcome of the appeal. It's unclear when that might come. Briefs in the case aren't due to the 7th Circuit until late December. A decision likely won't come down for weeks or even months later.</s>A U.S. magistrate judge in August ruled that the guilty verdict returned by a trial jury in 2007 against Dassey, now 27, was based on a coerced confession he gave as a 16-year-old with a learning disability.

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel appealed the judge's ruling, and prosecutors sought to keep Dassey in prison while the case is under review.

On Thursday, a day before Dassey was scheduled to be freed, the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with prosecutors. A three-judge panel ordered him to remain incarcerated "pending the outcome of the appeal," but did not explain its reasoning.

Dassey and his uncle, Steven Avery, were convicted in separate trials of killing freelance photographer Teresa Halbach at Avery's home and scrap yard in 2005. Her charred remains were found in an incineration barrel and a burn pit on Avery's property, about 80 miles (130 km) north of Milwaukee.

The nephew, then 17, was found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide, second-degree sexual assault and mutilation of a corpse. Avery was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide and unlawful possession of a firearm as a felon. Both were sentenced to life in prison.

The case was the subject of the 10-part documentary "Making a Murderer," which questioned the handling of the investigation and the motives of Manitowoc County law enforcement officials.

The documentary, which first went into production 10 years ago, recounted how Avery was convicted of an earlier, unrelated rape and sent to prison in 1985, serving 18 years before DNA evidence exonerated him and he was released.

He filed a $36 million federal lawsuit against the county, its former sheriff and district attorney in 2004. A year later, he and Dassey were accused of killing Halbach.

The Emmy-nominated documentary suggested that authorities planted evidence against both defendants, a claim rejected by the current sheriff.

Avery has filed a notice of appeal in his own case.</s>MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin prison inmate whose case was featured in the Netflix series Making a Murderer will stay behind bars while state attorneys appeal a decision overturning his conviction, a panel of federal appellate judges ruled Thursday.

Brendan Dassey’s release from prison appeared imminent right up until the three-judge panel from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago issued its decision. Television crews and reporters Thursday were staking out the prison in Portage where Dassey is being held.

“We are disappointed more than words can say,” Dassey’s attorneys, Steve Drizin and Laura Nirider, said in a statement posted online shortly after the ruling was released. “The fight goes on.”

Dassey, now 27, was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 in the death of photographer Teresa Halbach two years earlier. He confessed to detectives that he helped his uncle, Steven Avery, rape and kill Halbach in the Avery family’s salvage yard in Manitowoc County. Avery was sentenced to life in prison in a separate proceeding.

Avery and Dassey contend they were framed by police angry with Avery for filing a lawsuit against the county over his wrongful imprisonment for a sexual assault he didn’t commit. He’s pursuing his own appeal in state court.

Their cases gained national attention last year after Netflix aired Making a Murderer, a multipart documentary examining Halbach’s death.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit denies the release of Brendan Dassey, subject of the 2015 documentary series Making a Murderer.