State Blocks Dassey Release ... Again

The odyssey that is Brendan Dassey's murder conviction took another turn Wednesday after the Wisconsin Department of Justice managed to delay his release, arguing that his release order should be heard by a full 12-judge panel.

The 7th Circuit Appeals Court, who previously denied an appeal against overturning his murder conviction, issued a one-sentence ruling Wednesday: "It is ordered that the motion to lift the stay is denied."

State prosecutors had until 5 p.m. Wednesday to oppose the release of Dassey. It appears that the court is now considering the State's request.

Dassey, 27, is currently being housed in the Columbia Correctional Institution, continuing to serve his life sentence for his role in the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach.

Court Orders Dassey Free

Dassey's murder conviction had been decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago a week earlier, after the court ruled that the Wisconsin inmate featured in the Netflix series "Making a Murderer" was coerced into his confession, and that he should be freed from prison.

According to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago Thursday:

"The decision of the district court is AFFIRMED, with costs, in all respects. The writ of habeas corpus is GRANTED unless the State of Wisconsin elects to retry Dassey within 90 days of issuance of this court's final mandate, or of the Supreme Court's final mandate. The above is in accordance with the decision of this court entered on this date."

Dassey Convicted

Dassey was charged and later convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, mutilation of a corpse and second-degree sexual assault in the 2005 murder of photographer Teresa Halbach in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

Just 16 at the time of the murder, Dassey was convicted of helping his uncle, Steven Avery, cover up the crime in a case made famous by the Netflix documentary "Making a Murderer." Dassey was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 41 years.

Conviction Overturned

In August, a federal judge overturned Dassey's conviction, ruling that investigators used deceptive interrogation tactics to coerce a teenage Dassey to confess to helping Avery rape and kill 25-year-old Halbach.

In that ruling, the judge said Dassey's youth and "intellectual deficits" played a role in his conviction. The judge's decision noted, "It is clear how the investigators’ actions amounted to deceptive interrogation tactics that overbore Dassey’s free will."

Dassey's release blocked
In November, a U.S. magistrate judge ordered Dassey's release from prison. But Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel moved quickly, filing an emergency motion in Wisconsin's Seventh Circuit court seeking a stay of the judge's ruling.

Ultimately, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago blocked Dassey's release while considering the appeal. Dassey remains behind bars at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin.

Details of the state's appeal

The tactics investigators used were "not constitutionally impermissible acts," Schimel contends in a statement released at the time of his appeal.
“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 prepared statement.

“Two state courts carefully examined the evidence and properly concluded that Brendan Dassey’s confession to sexually assaulting and murdering Teresa Halbach with his uncle, Steven Avery, was voluntary, and the investigators did not use constitutionally impermissible tactics.”

Battle for Dassey's release
The Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth under the Northwestern Law School's Bluhm Legal Clinic, which worked on Dassey's case when his conviction was overturned in August, released a statement following the attorney general's appeal.
"We are disappointed in the State's decision to prolong Brendan's case by seeking an appeal. We look forward to continuing to defend his rights in court," the center said. "Like Brendan, we remain grateful to his many supporters for their continued loyalty and strength."

Avery — who previously served 18 years in prison for a rape he did not commit — is also hoping to have his conviction overturned. That case is currently held up in court.

By Scott Anderson (Patch Staff)/Shannon Antinori (Patch Staff) contributed to this article.

Brendan Dassey is escorted out of a Manitowoc County Circuit courtroom in Manitowoc, Wis., in a March 3, 2006 file photo Credit: AP Photo/Morry Gash, File.