Brendan Dassey: Guilty of Teresa Halbach's rape, torture, and murder?

[CoolJ]

Steven has been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and one of the reasons for that is there was no evidence of "shady characters with strong motive to get back at SA".

All evidence points to him and him alone, even after the umteenth motion of Zellner.

He was found guilty in the Wisconsin kangaroo court of injustice. We’ll see what happens as things move along here over the next few months. There really is no need to bicker back and forth. The truth is going to come to light. Let’s chat about it then. ......<modsnipped personalized comment>

 

[Boomstick]

What say you?

Had something to do with the events of that night. Whether or not he raped her or was a participant in her murder, or of he told the truth at any point is another matter.

His role is much less clear than Avery’s.

 

[proudfootz]

If I was on a jury and could not articulate what the defendant was supposed to have done, I'd have no grounds to convict them of anything 'beyond a reasonable doubt'.

 

[LivingWithBears]

There is so much to this case and so many things that we may never truly know BUT I do feel sure that Brendan is innocent and had no involvement whatsoever.

 

[Lass from Yorkshire]

No evidence right? Until there is evidence, he’s innocent. Coupled with the fact he was clearly coerced through the circus interviews .. can’t believe what happened to him.

 

[e0nyx]

I believe Dassey is completely innocent but perhaps he might have seen something (I do wonder if someone else committed the crime and Dassey saw that and not what he said).

His "confession" is remarkably similar to that of the West Memphis Three and that was later reasonably proven to be coerced and untrue.

I feel terrible for Dassey, he is a victim in this.

I completely agree with you and do not understand why more people haven't mentioned the WM3 and Jessie Misskelley's confession. It was the first thing that popped into my mind the first time I watched MAM. I am leaning towards the notion that BD didn't do/know/see anything.

 

[Laura Mountford]

I am so sad that the US doesn't protect intellectually disabled people. They are so vulnerable! It isn't that much better here for some minority groups (Australia) but at least we TRY to respect the UN Declaration and there are legal practices and regulations that must be followed for people with intellectual disabilities.

I will definitely have to watch the rest of the series

As a support worker for people with learning disabilities I know exactly how easily led and gullible they can be and the vivid imaginations they also have and how much they want to please others. Brendan Dassey was treated so unprofessionaly and the police planted ideas in his mind and words in his mouth. Where I work, a social worker or parent would have to be present in any interviews and if I thought for a moment someone I support was going to be taken advantage of or set up I would go ballistic!

 

[Laura Mountford]

No evidence right? Until there is evidence, he’s innocent. Coupled with the fact he was clearly coerced through the circus interviews .. can’t believe what happened to him.

Well said! Also, great username! I'm also a lass from Yorkshire. North Yorkshire to be precise...

 

[Laura Mountford]

bbm

There will always be people who think SA committed this murder. Even if the real killer is (Finally!) brought to justice. (There are still those who believe he is guilty of the rape of Penny B!).

And just as Missy stated up thread, certain things, taken at face value, can make SA look guilty, (although how anyone can read /watch the transcripts/video of Brendan's emotional battering and not experience nausea, vertigo and an intense desire to rip someones throat out, is beyond me!).

But when you start to see the forest through the trees, so to speak, it's covered in deceit by MCSO. Why is there a need for that?

But this is what kills it for me:

In all the years that I have been researching various investigations, I have never, ever seen something as shady as... what ever the hell was going on... between LE, Mike Halbach and Ryan Hillegas.

I've never seen a decent explanation, anywhere, that can explain to me how her brother knew she was dead before she was found, ( But I find it an interesting tie in, to how her plate number was called in before her car was found. (supposedly), and how the ex-boyfriend , who hacked into her personal phone account, was allowed to roam all over ASY, and head up search efforts.... There is just something huge there, that I can't put together...yet, But MCSO needed MH & RH's cooperation for whatever they were trying to pull off.

How do the people who are convinced SA is guilty, just skip right over that? They don't find that "odd" even a little bit? No questions? Don't want to know what they had to do to pin this murder on this guy?

I've always said that the brother and boyfriend had something to do with it. They seemed dodgy as hell.

 

[Lass from Yorkshire]

Well said! Also, great username! I'm also a lass from Yorkshire. North Yorkshire to be precise...

Ditto!

 

[SJ16321]

Dassey is 100% innocent. Judge Duffin got it absolutely correct and he should have been released and that be the end of it for Dassey. You can clearly see at times he's trying to work out what the LE want him to say. Unfortunately we're seeing the corruption of the US legal system at play so he's still behind bars.

As soon as the state appealed Duffin's ruling I knew that Dassey wouldn't be released. Those higher levels of the courts are there to protect the state and justice system. They couldn't care less about the convicted.

Avery and Dassey will both die in prison regardless of what evidence their attorneys can come up with, there's too much at stake for the powers that be for them to ever be released. 2 men losing their lives/freedom is a small price to pay in their eyes so that the justice system can save face.

 

[e0nyx]

Avery and Dassey will both die in prison regardless of what evidence their attorneys can come up with, there's too much at stake for the powers that be for them to ever be released. 2 men losing their lives/freedom is a small price to pay in their eyes so that the justice system can save face.

I worry about this.

 

[SJ16321]

I worry about this.

I see the "Making A Murderer" documentary as a double edged sword. It's got so much publicity and support for their cases when otherwise they may have just been forgotten which is great. However the huge public interest in the case means that you can be damn sure that the state will fight tooth and nail to keep these men behind bars forever.

To release these men would mean the state admitting fault and the cost of that would be unacceptable to them. Not just financially but it would absolutely shatter trust in the legal system and people would be demanding reform. The last thing the dinosaurs at the top of the legal system want is reform.

I don't blame the Halbachs for just accepting that the prosecution events are true, they probably don't want to face it all again and have wrote it off as over and finished. However if it was my sister and there was a shred of doubt that the convicted possibly didn't do it, then I'd be straight down the police station demanding they reopen the investigation as I'd want my sisters killer behind bars.

Regardless of what people may think of Avery, I think it's almost impossible to deny that Dassey doesn't at least deserve a retrial. If a foreign country had handled Dassey in this way we'd be saying what a disgrace it was and how the denying of basic rights is a complete scandal. As it's the USA people in power ignore these abuses.

 

[SCHMAE]

I am more angry with every word I see and watch about Brendan. The state of the justice system should scare us ALL. You can think ' I don't commit crimes so I have nothing to worry about'. But it's grossly naive to think that.

 

[FairM1]

The confession should be thrown out , it should never have been allowed into the first trial his lawyer didn't hardly put up a fight for Brendan. Good on those 3 appeal judges for dissenting , I do think his defence team should have got the more experienced lawyer to do the oral arguments, after hearing her response to questions I am of the view it should have been handled better. So much depends on getting the best legal representation , I think Avery has the best in Kathleen Z, she may yet succeed.

 

[Laura Mountford]

I am more angry with every word I see and watch about Brendan. The state of the justice system should scare us ALL. You can think ' I don't commit crimes so I have nothing to worry about'. But it's grossly naive to think that.

I agree and I don't even live in the US. But it's making me think a lot about our British judicial system aswell God forbid I or anyone else gets falsely accused of something!

 

[Saul Vesalot]

I am more angry with every word I see and watch about Brendan. The state of the justice system should scare us ALL. You can think ' I don't commit crimes so I have nothing to worry about'. But it's grossly naive to think that.

Yeah. One of the most frustrating things about MaM to me is how many people think the documentary is about trying to get Steven or Brendan free or whether or not they are guilty or innocent. It isn't as much about that as it is about the justice system. There is nothing very special about Manitowoc. It's not especially broken or corrupt or twisted. That's American [and elsewhere] small-town justice. That is what it looks like.
That's how it works in many, if not most jurisdictions. The current season of Serial is doing sort of the same thing in a more transparent way.

There is a reason why lawyers a tell you to never speak to the police without an attorney present. It isn't just to fatten their own wallets.

 

[proudfootz]

As a support worker for people with learning disabilities I know exactly how easily led and gullible they can be and the vivid imaginations they also have and how much they want to please others. Brendan Dassey was treated so unprofessionally and the police planted ideas in his mind and words in his mouth. Where I work, a social worker or parent would have to be present in any interviews and if I thought for a moment someone I support was going to be taken advantage of or set up I would go ballistic!

They are grooming Brendan exactly the way pedophiles do to use him for their own purposes, and then the throw him away when they are done with him. It's just incomprehensible to me that anyone thinks this is in any way acceptable.

 

[Mrs Marple]

The way Brendan was coerced when he clearly has no idea of the implications of what he was agreeing to is the most shocking thing about this whole prosecution. He is clearly a vulnerable person. How it ever got this far us beyond me,if that happened in the UK the judge would have directed the jury to find him not guilty.

 

[MrX]

I was as shocked as everyone when watching the series, but then went back to the source documents. Go back and read Brendan's transcripts, from 11/6 onward. And watch the entire interviews. I don't see how LE had any choice except to follow up. I mean what were they supposed to do when Steven says Teresa got there around 2:30 and left five minutes later, and kid says he saw her leaving at 3:45 when he got home from school? Seems like that would demand some clarification, and that's what happens throughout. Brendan volunteers something that they know isn't true and they have to ask "so why did you just lie?"