Potential Consequences of the Dassey Confession
The sparring that is happening around this confession has consequences that extend beyond the upcoming trial.
Special Prosecutor Ken Kratz has already carefully controlled the evidence so obvious problems with the confession will be obscured from the jury.
Kratz has moved to exclude evidence that he used in the Avery trial.
The Defense wants to present testimony from an expert witness to show how easily Dassey could be mislead. The expert, Dr. Robert Gordon, has made it clear that he does not function as a lie detector.
Kratz, of course, opposes such a move. He claims that Dassey successfully repulsed investigators twelve times. That is supposed to mean that Dassey was very capable of resisting coercion. Kratz also claims that he and Dassey’s prior attorney, Len Kachinsky, were very close to a plea deal. But, considering the history of Kachinsky and Dassey that is unlikely.
The judge, Jerome Fox, has previously ruled that the confession was valid. Judge Fox needs a course in confession 101. False confessions abound. Many exonerated persons in death penalty cases provided false confessions under interrogation. Some of these were adults with an average or better intelligence.
A fairly recent case in Federal Court indicates some dangers for the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Calumet County, possibly Manitowoc County, and the two individuals involved with the extraction.
This case, Sornberger v. City of Knoxville, involved a false confession coerced from an adult where adults were held in jail for an extended time. While the case originated in Illinois, there are reasons for the parties here to have concern. Liability was assigned to the municipalities and the police.(1)
The Dassey case involves a confession where there appears to be no evidence to tie him to the crime, and he has spent over a year in jail awaiting trial.
Another danger for the prosecution is the March 2006 search warrant that mysteriously turned up the magic bullet; the only evidence that placed Halbach in a Steven Avery building. Since the confession was engineered, what will that do to the warrant?
I am amazed to see how the prosecutor wants to manipulate to obtain a conviction without evidence. Even if Kratz does manage a conviction, the reality is that this will be overturned and that the counties and State will be liable.
in category Brendan Dassey
