A huge breakthrough has been made by Brendan Dassey and his legal team, as his life sentence for his alleged role in the murder of Teresa Halbach has been overturned by a US federal judge.
Brendan Dassey / Credit: Netflix
The 26-year-old who suffers from learning disabilities was convicted of the murder alongside his uncle Steven Avery, aged just 16, meaning he has spent much of his young adult life behind bars.
On Friday (August 12), Judge William Duffin stated in his court ruling that investigators during the trial made false promises to Dassey, assuring him he "had nothing to worry about".
The judge concluded: "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 14th Amendments."
Speaking to the BBC's Today programme, Professor of law at Northwestern University, Steven Drizin explained why he got involved with attempting to get Dassey's conviction overturned.
He said: "I thought that this was a confession that was the result of police coercion. These detectives had taken advantage of a young man who had severe learning difficulties. The only facts in the confession had been fed to him by the investigators."
Dassey has to be released from custody within 90 days of the decision, unless the State begins proceedings to retry him.
Meanwhile it was recently revealed that Making A Murderer will be returning to Netflix for an all-new batch of episodes with season two at some point in the near future.
Creators Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos commented: "We are extremely grateful for the tremendous response to, and support of, the series. The viewers' interest and attention has ensured that the story is not over, and we are fully committed to continuing to document events as they unfold."
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