At age 16, Dassey was convicted of the murder of Teresa Halbach and sentenced to life in prison.

Before I go any further,if you haven't seen the Netflix docu-series Making a Murderer stop reading this post and go watch it. Right now.

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Making A Murderer Trailer

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The documentary details the life of Brendan's uncle, Steven Avery, who was also convicted of Halbach's murder in a separate trial.

Perhaps I shouldn't give away away too much of the story...but who am I kidding? I doubt anyone is actually going to read this anyways so it doesn't make much of a difference. Something that the documentary does very well is to show us the short-comings of the justice system in Wisconsin.

Short-comings is perhaps putting it lightly here, a better description would be a complete clusterfuck of mismanagement in the investigation of the case. Not only that, but members of Manitowoc County law enforcement and the judicial system appear to conspire to make sure that Steven Avery and his nephew remain the only suspects, are tried and convicted in the murder of Teresa Halbach.

The most insane part of the story is that Steven Avery already served 18 years in prison for the 1985 rape of a woman but was finally released from prison because DNA evidence exonerated him. After, being wrongfully convicted and spending almost 2 decades behind bars Avery filed a lawsuit against Manitowoc County, the DA and the county Sheriff for $36 million, and the following year Steven and Brendan were blamed for Teresa Halbachs murder.

Dassey and his uncle, Steven Avery, were convicted in separate trials of killing freelance photographer Teresa Halbach at Avery's home and scrap yard. 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.

A jury in 2007 found Dassey 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.

Brendan was sentenced after being coerced by his own legal team to confess to participating in the murder. To make matters worse, Brendan has a learning disability that obviously contributes to a disastrous string of unfortunate events leading to his conviction.

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Conviction Overturned

At 27 years old, Brendan will be released from prison for because of the coerced confession Dassey made while under duress.

A three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled 2-1 to uphold a federal judge's ruling last year that overturned Dassey's conviction for a 2005 murder.

Magistrate Judge William Duffin had ruled in August that the conviction was based on a coerced confession that Dassey, now 27, gave as a 16-year-old with a learning disability. Duffin ordered Dassey freed in November, but his release was halted while Wisconsin authorities appealed the decision.

Source: Reuters

Dassey's attorney celebrated the Appeals Court's decision saying that "this round goes to Brendan Dassey 2-1." Nevertheless, the state of Wisconsin has 90 days to appeal the ruling.

This is a very positive ruling for Brendan who was done in by his original attorney in the case.

Hopefully a modicum of justice will finally prevail in Manitowoc County.

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Images: Raw Story, Mirror, The Wrap

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