A federal judge in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has overturned the conviction of Making a Murderer’s Brendan Dassey.
Variety noted that the decision to overturn the 26-year-old’s conviction of first-degree intentional homicide, second-degree sexual assault and mutilation of a corpse was made on Friday.
If state prosecutors do not refile charges, Dassey will walk free in 90 days.
Dassey and his uncle, Steven Avery, were the subjects of the Netflix documentary which raised questions about the murder case of Teresa Halbach that the two were convicted of in 2007. Some viewers seen Avery as a target of law enforcement after he sued for $36 million years earlier when his rape conviction was overturned. Many also believed that police coerced a confession to the murder out of Dassey, who was 16 at time and has a low IQ.
The judge agreed that the confession was "involuntary," stating in court documents that "investigators repeatedly claimed to already know what happened... and assured Dassey that he had nothing to worry about. Dassey’s borderline to below average intellectual ability likely made him more susceptible to coercive pressures than a peer of higher intellect."
As we previously reported, Making a Murderer was such a success that it is getting a second season and even received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.