Brendan Dassey appeals to U.S. Supreme Court
Brendan Dassey
CLOSE  Brendan Dassey's  case continues through the justice system.  Alison Dirr/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Brendan Dassey  appears in court April 16  2007  at the Manitowoc County Courthouse in Manitowoc. (Photo: Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)
APPLETON  Wis. —  Brendan Dassey 's attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to hear  his  appeal in the Teresa Halbach murder.
The petition for a writ of certiorari — a legal brief asking the high court to hear  his  case — raises “crucial issues” with relevance far beyond  Dassey ’s case  the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law’s Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth said in a statement Tuesday.
“Too many courts around the country  for many years  have been misapplying or even ignoring the Supreme Court’s instructions that confessions from mentally impaired kids like  Brendan Dassey  must be examined with the greatest care — and that interrogation tactics which may not be coercive when applied to an adult can overwhelm children and the mentally impaired ” Steven Drizin  one of  Dassey ’s attorneys from CWCY  said in the statement. “Meanwhile  DNA evidence has uncovered dozens of cases involving false confessions from children. The time is now for the Court to reaffirm this country’s commitment to protecting kids in the interrogation room.”
CLOSE A federal judge on Monday ordered  Brendan Dassey  be released from prison as  he  awaits a possible retrial Time
Dassey’s case has been moving through the legal system in fits and starts. In 2016  it appeared that  he  was on the verge of release with  his  conviction overturned on the grounds that it was involuntary — only to have the Seventh Circuit reinstate it.
 Dassey  was 16 when  he  confessed to participating in Halbach's murder.  His  attorneys say the confession was clearly coerced by detectives  while the state contends that the questioning was proper and conformed to the law.
DOCUMENT:  Dassey 's petition for writ of certiorari
That court "gave those attributes the same glancing treatment as other facts it deemed equally relevant to voluntariness — like the upholstery on the couch  Dassey  sat on
during questioning " his attorneys wrote. "Under an actual 'evaluation '  Dassey ’s confession would unquestionably be deemed involuntary  but because of the state court’s disregard of that precedent  this juvenile may spend the rest of  his  life in prison."
CLOSE  [TGT]case continues through the justice system.  Alison Dirr/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
[TGT]appears in court April 16  2007  at the Manitowoc County Courthouse in Manitowoc. (Photo: Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)
APPLETON  Wis. —  [TGT] 's attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to hear  [TGT]  appeal in the Teresa Halbach murder.
The petition for a writ of certiorari — a legal brief asking the high court to hear  his  case — raises “crucial issues” with relevance far beyond  [TGT] ’s case  the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law’s Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth said in a statement Tuesday.
“Too many courts around the country  for many years  have been misapplying or even ignoring the Supreme Court’s instructions that confessions from mentally impaired kids like  [TGT]must be examined with the greatest care — and that interrogation tactics which may not be coercive when applied to an adult can overwhelm children and the mentally impaired ” Steven Drizin  one of  [TGT] ’s attorneys from CWCY  said in the statement. “Meanwhile  DNA evidence has uncovered dozens of cases involving false confessions from children. The time is now for the Court to reaffirm this country’s commitment to protecting kids in the interrogation room.”
CLOSE A federal judge on Monday ordered  [TGT]be released from prison as  [TGT]  awaits a possible retrial Time
Dassey’s case has been moving through the legal system in fits and starts. In 2016  it appeared that  [TGT]  was on the verge of release with  [TGT]  conviction overturned on the grounds that it was involuntary — only to have the Seventh Circuit reinstate it.
 [TGT]was 16 when  he  confessed to participating in Halbach's murder.  His  attorneys say the confession was clearly coerced by detectives  while the state contends that the questioning was proper and conformed to the law.
DOCUMENT:  [TGT] 's petition for writ of certiorari
That court "gave those attributes the same glancing treatment as other facts it deemed equally relevant to voluntariness — like the upholstery on the couch  [TGT]sat on
during questioning " [TGT] attorneys wrote. "Under an actual 'evaluation '  [TGT] ’s confession would unquestionably be deemed involuntary  but because of the state court’s disregard of that precedent  this juvenile may spend the rest of  his  life in prison."