MADISON (NBC 26) -- A legal advocate for Brendan Dassey, Laura Nirider, says more than 250 prominent and public figures have signed an open letter to the Wisconsin Governor asking for clemency on Dassey's behalf.
Brendan Dassey and his uncle, Steven Avery, were convicted in 2007 for the rape and murder of Teresa Halbach in Manitowoc County. Their case received widespread attention following the 2015 release of Netflix's Making a Murderer, a documentary series about the case.
Advocates for Brendan Dassey say his confession in the case was coerced and that Dassey is intellectually disabled. A new letter published Thursday asks Governor Evers to extend clemency to Dassey, in the form of either a pardon or commutation.
Nirider, one of Dassey's attorneys and co-director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, noted that one of the signers of the letter included Sister Helen Prejean, whose anti-death penalty advocacy inspired the film Dead Man Walking.
The letter has also been signed by @helenprejean (the Catholic sister whose human rights advocacy was featured in Dead Man Walking), 45+ current & former federal and state prosecutors, and the past president of the American College of Trial Lawyers @actl.
— Laura Nirider (@LauraNirider) October 24, 2019
Other signees include people associated with the Innocence Project and exonerated inmates such as Amanda Knox. Knox was an American woman who was convicted of murder in Italy but was later exonerated and released. Her case also received widespread attention.
According to previous reports, Governor Evers has said he will only consider pardons for people who have completed their prison sentences. He's also ruled out commutations.
To read the letter advocating for Brendan Dassey, click here.
