Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
HE WAS A cause celebre for the Netflix generation.
But now that Brendan Dassey, made famous by the streaming service’s documentary Making A Murderer, has had his conviction overturned, you’d be forgiven for thinking that he can now walk free.
It’s a little more complicated than that.
Although his original conviction no longer stands, Dassey has been told he must be released from prison within the next 90 days – unless authorities schedule a new trial.
A 26-year-old from Wisconsin, back in 2007 Dassey was convicted, along with his uncle Steven Avery, of the 2005 murder of photographer Teresa Halbach.
He was made famous by the 2015 Netflix documentary series Making A Murder, which outlined numerous alleged flaws in the case against him - and prompted demands for judicial review.
The 10-part series by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, released in December, suggested that police investigators had unfairly questioned Dassey, then 16, without a lawyer or parent present.
A judicial review of the case led to Dassey’s conviction being overturned last Friday by a federal judge.
In a 91-page ruling, US Magistrate Judge William Duffin was highly critical of investigators, Brendan Dassey’s original attorney Len Kachinsky, and the state courts, concluding that Dassey’s constitutional rights were violated.
Magistrate Duffin also wrote that Dassey’s confession could not be considered safe because of promises made to him by police.
He said: “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 Fourteenth Amendments.
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals’ decision to the contrary was an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law.
A review of transcripts and several hours of recordings of the interrogations showed that Dassey — who at the time was a learning-disabled 16-year-old with no police record — was repeatedly questioned without an attorney by the prosecution’s investigators, who allegedly “fed” him facts of the crime that he eventually confessed to.
Dassey’s first lawyer, Kachinsky, not only allowed Dassey to be questioned alone, but had his own investigator pressure Dassey to confess.
Unlike Avery, whose conviction was based largely on DNA evidence, no physical evidence linked Dassey to the death and assault of Halbach.
A 25-year-old photographer, Halbech was last seen alive with Avery, outside the latter’s Manitowoc County trailer, on Halloween 2005.
After separate trials in 2007, both Avery and Dassey were sentenced to life in prison.
Dassey was convicted of three different charges: first-degree intentional homicide, mutilation of a corpse, and first-degree sexual assault.
Not quite. Judge Duffin ordered that Dassey needs to be released from custody — unless, within 90 days from 12 August, the date of the judgment, “the State initiates proceedings to retry him.”
So Dassey could go to trial again, if the state of Wisconsin so decides.
It is unclear whether or not the state can present new information if Dassey were to be retried.
According to Steven Govin, a criminal defence attorney in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, they can’t use Dassey’s statement — a key piece of evidence in the original trial.
Netflix is currently preparing a second season of the popular series, which first aired in December 15.
While they have yet to release the full details for the remake, the new series is likely to focus on the judicial review, and its aftermath.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Supposed to be at black spots but I only ever see them on safe dual carriageways. Money making racket
Ever tried shooting fish in the deep blue sea? Try it, then try shooting them in a barrel, I bet the barrel will be easier! Now they’re on dual carriageways and motorways for the same proverbial reason!
I’d love to know where the ass*ol*s who are red thumbing work. I have a fair idea though.
A money making racket. Hiding like snakes in the grass in low speed zones. Contract should be ripped up. How they got away with this for so long is a disgrace.
Only see them in 50 zones hidden. Have you ever tried to do 50 in a 50 zone when ones not around I have and to say I’ve been abused for it is an understatement. Never seen an accident in these zones either in all the years I’ve been driving the same road. I have on the other hand seen numerous accidents in other stretches of the same road and never see a go safe on in these places. Must not bring in the revenue on these stretches.
on the N11 in Wicklow is a perfect example of lazy revenue generating practices of the gatso vans, typically parked just inside a lower speed zone or just before the motorway where they catch people easily. these are locations with low accident rates and levels but easy to catch people. Interestingly these were never the places that the guards used to do manual speed checks at.
Here here. Got caught there last week, it’s less than 300 metres from the 120 sign for the motor way! What a money making racket
Of course it’s not working – it’s a complete con job.
‘Speeding’ as they love to tout it, isn’t the problem you’d believe. Even the RSA’s own website only attributes less than 10% of accidents attributable to ‘speed’. Not forgetting of course that ‘speeding’ in the RSA’s own reports is the sum of those who break the actual legally posted limit PLUS those who weren’t legally speeding, but who were driving ‘too fast’. (wtf that means.).
Still, a private company in Kerry gets €50m so that’s grand. Jobs for the boys & all that.
I said that here on the journal over two years ago and 90% gave red thumbs.
Was there not a plan to change the speed limit to common sense on those dodgy country roads a few months back?
This is Ireland Shawn. Nobody likes a smart arse!!
Wrong.
Speed limits are not set by Superintendents, they are set by Engineers from your local council.
And the speed van company’s get reimbursed by the number of hours they complete not the number of tickets.
Never let the truth get in the way of a good moan.
Thank you.
..irrelevant. The car you describe isn’t breaking any law.
Yea Darragh. Good to see they believe me at last.
Got caught speeding once in Dublin. Was bracing myself for a hefty fine and points to arrive in the post. When it finally did arrive, it had my name and address but a photo of another car and a statement saying I was speeding in Donegal! Couldn’t make it up
Give us an unjust system & we will get around it. There is a big emphasis on speeding not because its a major cause of road deaths but because its an easy target & a goid revenue generator. Its the very same as the tachograph legislation.
Traffic lights are the same. They slow up traffic and tempt people to ignore them and get fined. When did traffic lights ever help the ordinary working-class man?
If it isn’t working in the first place then how can confidence be restored?
I recently got caught doing 60 in a fifty zone which may seem fair enough, the thing is in was leaving the town of birr and the van was right at the edge of the 50 zone, surely catching people speeding in the town would be of more benefit.
What lesson did I learn from this except the safety cameras are an extortion racket and have nothing to do with safety.
A revenue collecting exercise only, cherry picking locations by placing the vans immediately inside speed limit areas. Proof of the pudding, fatalities up! Government want money. Whole system should be reviewed. Speed van locations should be in areas where fatal accidents occur, not soft targets?
People should be allowed drive at any speed they like. Driving on footpaths with any vehicle over 1400cc should, however, be strictly limited.
We need more cameras not fewer
Sure we all know EXACTLY The spots they always check on the n11 because of the 60km speed limit! They always do the same places over and over again! Stillorgan had a van for about a month recently goin into the slip road and they always check just after ucd going up the underpass and then again behind the bus stop on the opposite side! There are marked points for Garda only spaces on the side of the n11 also just for catching people speeding ! All so predictable! Will you find cameras tho down the country on small roads where people actually drive dangerously? No! Because more chance of people in Dublin going a few over to make some money! How many people die on the n11? Nobody! You can’t go fast enough. Also I think most collisions happen because of stupid people not checking mirrors and blind spots not because of speed!
Speed never killed anybody. If your car is designed to travel at 200KPH then there is no reason not to drive at this speed. Planes go much faster and never kill anybody because of their speed. It makes sense.
Never on small roads ? Ha ! Try the R347 – they’re in two spots near my front door regularly. Just in time for commuters to work too. Amazing coincidence. The road even fails the criteria for warranting a camera.
Well said. Every day you can predict the road crashes they are down the country in the middle of the night ie, 2am
Also some of the speed limits are crazy the n11 has two speed limits 80km/h and 60km/h why not have the same speed limit. When you try to do the speed limit in the fast lane people are on your tail just the other week I had a woman overtake me and then when she got in front of me she gave me the two fingers through her rear view mirror and kept them up for a while to make sure i saw her
Rachel, figures publicly available for 2012, 2013 and so far this year, show that just less than 60% of road deaths happened between 6pm and 10pm and were mostly from Tuesday to Saturday. Not at 2am or nights. 15% were night time 10pm to 6am and the other 25% was 6am to 6pm.
Ah sure didn’t berties mate get the contract the same person who owns the swanky hotel outside of Kilkenny city,And who signed off on the contract no other than the failed school teacher Dempsey, The same man who when minister for transport said in order for people to avoid damage to their cars,They should drive slowly in to the pot holes.
Also this company has done a grey hound and gone off shore regarding accounts.
The Hollywood to Glendalough road is a nightmare on Sundays – lunatic motorcyclists doing insane speeds and overtaking two or three cars at a time even on bends.There are numerous roadside memorial plaques to motorcyclists who have died in accidents on that road and other windy roads around Wicklow but I have never seen a speed van on that particular road.
But sure if your a motorcyclist, you can never be caught by GoSafe, as they only detect approaching traffic….
No requirement for front reg plates on bikes, so no recordable offence committed.
So much for the law being fair….
Speeding tickets are for everyone , when we see the points been scrubbed every day for some sections of society then the law is not the law of the land as it does not cover the people equally across the land .
It’s working for someone, from the Irish Examiner Saturday, July 20, 2013
“The Xavier McAuliffe-led consortium, that operates the army of speed camera vans across the country, recorded operating profits of almost €50,000 per week last year.
The Go Safe consortium secured the €80m Garda contract to operate the speed camera vans in 2009, and new accounts show the firm recorded operating profits of €3.12m in the 15 months to the end of Mar 31, 2012 — or €48,000 per week, on average.”
Some of the locations are a joke, there is a location near me that hasn’t had a crash in 20 years yet every few weeks there is a van there. Don’t get me started on when the van is on an incline! I would also argue that glaring at the speedometer is taking the drivers eyes off the road thus making it things even worse
have your say