U.S. Supreme Court says ‘no’ to Dassey review

Posted at 1:20 p.m. on June 25, 2018

The Brillion News

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Supreme Court today (Monday, June 25) listed Dassey v. Dittmann among the cases it will not accept for consideration.

That leaves standing a federal appeals court decision that left in place the conviction of Brendan Dassey for the sexual assault and murder of Teresa Halbach.

Dassey, 16 at the time he was tried, was convicted largely on the basis of his confession to a state investigator and Calumet County detective Mark Wiegert.

A federal magistrate in Milwaukee threw the confession out, but the state Department of Justice appealed and the U.S. Court of Appeals  for the Seventh Circuit upheld the validity of the confession, although two judges on the panel dissented.

In denying the request to review the case, the nation’s highest court gave no reason for turning it down. Over 100 requests for case review were similarly denied.

Dassey’s appeal to the Supreme Court had broad support for the legal community, which sought better guidance from the high court on police interrogations of juveniles and resulting confessions.

The Northwestern University Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth (CWCY) said it will continue to seek relief for Dassey.

However, Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel said he was pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision not to review the case.

“[The Wisconsin Justice Department] is pleased that the Supreme Court of the United States denied Mr. Dassey’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari, and the decision of an en banc panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit stands. We hope the family and friends of Ms. Halbach can find comfort in knowing this ordeal has finally come to a close,” Schimel said.

The CWCY said the fight is not over, however.

“We will continue to fight to free Brendan Dassey,” said CWCY attorney Laura Nirider. “[We] will continue to fight for Brendan and the many other children who have been wrongfully convicted due to the use of coercive interrogation tactics.”

This is a breaking news story. A complete story will appear in the print edition of The Brillion News on Thursday, June 28.