Making A Murderer subject Brendan Dassey is close to being free, but his release won’t happen if the Wisconsin State Attorney General has anything to say about it. The nephew of Stephen Avery won a massive victory in his appeals case back in August when a judge threw his conviction out on the grounds that his confession was coerced. But rather than release him within 90 days as a federal judge demanded, attorney general Brad Schimel instead appealed Brendan’s release, keeping him in prison while the state’s reasoning was considered.
On the 14th of August, the same judge that tossed Dassey’s conviction also refused the attorney general’s appeal, saying Schimel offered no new reasoning or evidence to keep Brendan in jail. With that in mind, the judge ordered Brendan released from jail by 8:00 P.M. this Friday, the 18th of November. End game, right?
Wrong. Rather than let Brendan walk free, Schimel has filed an emergency motion with the 7th circuit court of appeals, asking a panel of judges to review the case and rule on whether Brendan’s release was handled correctly. The good news in all of this? If the 7th Circuit doesn’t rule on this by Friday night, Brendan Dassey will be released regardless. The bad news, though, is he’ll have their ruling hanging over his head and he could end up back in jail within days or weeks if the 7th Circuit rules against him.