Brendan Dassey ‑ The Sentence

On 2 August, 2007 Brendan Dassey sat before Judge Jerome Fox to receive his sentence for his conviction of his part in the sexual assault, murder, and dismemberment of Teresa Halbach.

He received life in prison with parole possibility after forty years. His family was hoping for much less. The family of the victim wanted more.

Dassey received offers for plea bargains which could have substantially reduced his sentence. He declined all of them. If he were in reality innocent that was the only proper choice.

The behavior of his attorneys who wanted him to plead is frightening. If he did not do the crime, the pleading will damn him nonetheless since Wisconsin Courts will not consider facts of prosecutor misconduct, ineffective representation, and new facts that could exonerate him.

I suspect that the defense attorneys who wanted Dassey to plead did not examine all his confessions very well. Or it is simply the softer easier way for those collecting money as a public defender. The idea might be to minimize his time in prison, but that has many problems.

I believe that defense attorneys pushing for a quick plea do not explain the consequences of this action to their clients. The accused can still spend a great deal of time in prison and their chance for overturning an admission, even a false one, is close to nil. In addition, the future for a released prisoner is poor. A felony will always be present and can interfere with employment opportunities. Dassey was taken from high school before graduation and he has learning problems. His chances of functioning well even after fifteen prison years are slim.

Brendan’s statements at the sentencing were simple. He didn’t do the crime. He was incapable of committing such behavior. Based on family comments, it is unlikely he could engage in the type of behavior described in his confessions. His trial attorneys would have done well to explore expert witnesses to examine that aspect.

And, their extremely limited presentation of false confessions was ineffective. False confessions are not limited to the young and inexperienced. It is only that a higher percentage of young produce false confessions.

Overall, this young man received shoddy treatment from the system. The State used only one of four confessions since the others were too much of a problem. The trial confession showed Dassey being scripted and prepped by the investigators, but the defense did not play clips to show exactly how the interrogators mischaracterized many parts they claimed were incriminating. The sequences showing the investigators telling Dassey, often with increasing detail, what they wanted prior to his statements would have been useful to help the jury evaluate the prosecution presentation.* The portions of the other confessions that show Dassey unable to maintain the State’s scenario would have shown the difficulty the interrogators had pushing their version of events. The fact that Dassey identified burning female clothing only after the repeated insistence of Special Agent Tom Fassbender, is important. But, the defense did not ask Fassbender how anyone could tell the sex difference of burning clothing.

Some of the portions of the confession not shown by the State needed to be put before the jury.

I understand that the defense was hampered to a degree simply because the trial judge, Jerome Fox, is a prosecutor’s judge.

Special Prosecutor Tom Fallon managed to alter the time‑line of one of the witnesses so her statement appeared to have been made much earlier in the investigation. The defense did not object to that alteration, nor did they capitalize on the fact that Fallon altered substantial portions of the confession shown at trial during his closing statement. The jury did not attend well enough to notice the very large discrepancy.

I understand the need for attorneys to present consistent cases and follow a plan. But, like any campaign, there must be flexibility and fluidity to ensure a proper defense. Plus, the occasional bullying by the prosecution team must be met head on and with strength. Considering that Fallon could contradict the confession to counter testimony that showed it to be false, why couldn’t the defense use that same alteration to demonstrate that prosecutors did not believe the confession themselves?

Hopefully, Dassey will have better representation during appeals. I suspect that a conscientious and competent attorney can make a good case against the State.

* There is a problem with subjecting any group to an unbroken and long presentation like this such as the third confession shown at trial. Adding to this the idea that they are only allowed rudimentary note taking, makes the process questionable. It takes some close attention to see some of the most obvious misstatements by prosecution witnesses.