Prosecutors seek to uphold 'Making a Murderer' confession

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The confession of a Wisconsin inmate featured in the Netflix series "Making a Murderer" was improperly obtained and he should be retried or released from prison, a three-judge federal appeals panel ruled.

Brendan Dassey was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 in photographer Teresa Halbach's death on Halloween two years earlier. Dassey told detectives he helped his uncle, Steven Avery, rape and kill Halbach in the Avery family's Manitowoc County salvage yard. Avery was sentenced to life in a separate trial.

A federal magistrate judge ruled in August that investigators coerced Dassey, who was 16 years old at the time and suffered from cognitive problems, into confessing and overturned his conviction. The state Justice Department appealed the ruling to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a move that kept Dassey, now 27, behind bars pending the outcome.

A three-judge panel from the Chicago-based 7th Circuit on Thursday upheld the magistrate's decision to overturn his conviction.

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel said Friday his initial step will be asking the full 7th Circuit to review the decision by the three judges. The state also had the option of going directly to the U.S. Supreme Court or retrying Dassey.

"We need to put an end to this once and for all for Teresa Halbach's family," Schimel said, speaking on WTMJ-AM.

Dassey's lawyers from the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth at Northwestern University said they're elated and will take immediate steps to secure his release.

Attorney Laura Nirider said they want to send Dassey home to his mother as soon as possible. She said they did the math and determined that he had been in prison for 4,132 days as of Thursday.

Schimel said the state will fight any attempts for Dassey's release.

"We've been successful in the past in convincing the courts that while various appeals were pending it was necessary to retain him in custody, that what he was convicted of in the state court is such a serious crime that it would be dangerous to have him out," Schimel said.

The center's director, Steven Drizin, said the ruling provides a model for the kind of thorough analysis that courts should always undertake.