Court of Appeals grants state's emergency motion

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- 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.

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UPDATE:

Brendan Dassey ordered to remain in jail by Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

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UPDATE: 

Brendan Dassey's attorneys have filed a response to Attorney General Brad Schimel's emergency motion. 

"Mr. Dassey remains a peaceful inmate who poses no current dangerousness or flight risk," the response says.

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UPDATE: 

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U.S. Magistrate Judge William Duffin has denied a motion filed by the Wisconsin Department of Justice Tuesday to block Brendan Dassey's release.

The state filed that motion one day after the same judge ruled that Dassey should be released while he awaits the outcome of a potential retrial.

In his order, the judge says Dassey must be released no later than 8:00 p.m. this Friday.

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UPDATE Wednesday, Nov. 16: Brendan Dassey’s attorneys sent a letter to U.S. Magistrate William Duffin Wednesday which says the state’s motion for a stay “recycles old arguments already presented to and ruled upon by this Court.”

“Petitioner Dassey does not intend to file a response but instead stands on the facts and law presented in his Motion for Release on Recognizance and his Reply in Support of Motion for Release on Recognizance,” the letter says.

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UPDATE Tuesday, Nov. 15: Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel filed an amended notice of appeal in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, adding Monday’s order to the matters on review. He also filed a motion for a stay of the order granting the motion for release, and a request to decide the motion by 4 p.m. Wednesday.

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A man whose homicide conviction was overturned in a case profiled in the Netflix series "Making a Murderer," was ordered released Monday from federal prison while prosecutors appeal.

 

   U.S. Magistrate Judge William Duffin ordered Brendan Dassey's release contingent upon him meeting multiple conditions. The judge ruled in August that investigators tricked Dassey into confessing he helped his uncle, Steven Avery, rape, kill and mutilate photographer Teresa Halbach in 2005. The state has appealed that ruling.

 

   Dassey's attorney, Steve Drizin, said he had not spoken yet with Dassey, but he hoped to have him out of prison in time to spend Thanksgiving with his family.

 

   "That's what I'm focused on right now, getting him home, getting him with his family and then helping him to re-integrate back into society while his appeal plays out," Drizin said.

 

   Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel issued a statement saying he would file an emergency motion in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to put the release order on hold.

 

   Dassey's supervised release was not immediate. He had until noon Tuesday to provide the federal probation and parole office with the address of where he planned to live.

 

   Drizin would not say where Dassey plans to live.

 

   Mike Halbach, Teresa's brother, and Barb Janda, Dassey's mother, did not return calls for comment.

 

   Dassey was 16 when Halbach died. He's now 27.

 

   Duffin ruled in August that investigators made specific promises of leniency to Dassey and that no "fair-minded jurists could disagree." He cited one investigator's comment early in the interview that "you don't have to worry about things," plus repeated comments like "it's OK" and that they already knew what happened.

 

   Schimel, in his appeal, said investigators didn't promise leniency and they specifically told Dassey that no promises could be made.

 

   Halbach was killed on Halloween 2005, after she visited the Avery family's salvage yard in Manitowoc County. Investigators allege Avery lured her there by asking her to take photos of a minivan. Dassey was sentenced to life in prison in 2007. Court documents describe him as a slow learner who had poor grades and has difficulty understanding language and speaking. Avery was convicted in a separate trial and was also sentenced to life in prison. He's pursuing his own appeal.

 

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