Dassey Trial Notes – 19 April, 2007

Note: I missed much of today’s testimony.

Marinette County Detective Anthony O’Neill interviewed Brendan Dassey in Early November, 2005. He, along with two other Marinette County Personnel, kept Dassey in a squad car with flashing lights throughout the interview. The interview was taped. O’Neill denied that he was being confrontational, but calling people dishonest, and demanding that they keep secrets easily passes the confrontation test.

This Officer of the Court was very evasive when questioned by the Defense. I wonder if Marinette County Courts allow police to evade and switch while testifying. Judge Jerome Fox had to direct O’Neill to answer the questions.

O’Neill may think he is doing his job, but I find him rather scary. It is beneficial to use techniques that get the wrongdoer rather than entrap the innocent. It behooves us citizens to make sure our police know the difference.

O’Neill also pretended he was a mind reader when he claimed that Dassey had a physical tenseness in response to an internal conflict.

Investigator Mark Wiegert started in preparation of presenting the Dassey Confession videos.

He spoke of his interview with Kayla Avery on 20 February 2006. She mentioned that Brendan was staring and had lost a lot of weight.

Wiegert also testified that in an interview on 7 March, 2006, Kayla said that Brendan told her that he saw Teresa Halbach “pinned up” on a chair and he saw body parts in a fire.*

Wiegert decided that weight loss and depression shown by Dassey had to be the result of prior knowledge of the crime. Wiegert suddenly became a psychiatrist or a psychic. He did not attempt to verify the weight loss or depression. There are many reasons for such events to occur anyway. His assumption that these occurred because of criminal behavior is tunnel thinking.

* Edit – from trial notes. Kayla made her statement about body parts on 7 March, 2007. This was well after the televised presentation of Ken Kratz in which he promulgated details such as the fire and body parts.