‘Making a Murderer': Brendan Dassey’s Former Lawyer Speaks Out on Conviction Being Overturned

The Wrap
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The trial, verdict and overturned conviction of “Making a Murderer” subject Brendan Dassey is anything but over and done with.

“I will not be further involved in Dassey’s case. I have no opinion as to his factual guilt or innocence. I expect the State will appeal,” Dassey’s former attorney Len Kachinsky tells TheWrap.

Kachinsky added: “It should be noted that the ground on which the new trial was ordered was Judge Fox’s denial of a motion I filed and litigated to keep Dassey’s March 2006 statement out of evidence. So I did my job and kept Dassey’s option open.”

Also Read: ‘Making a Murderer’ Filmmakers Respond to Brendan Dassey’s Overturned Conviction

Nine years after Dassey and his uncle, Steven Avery, were convicted in the 25-year-old murder of photographer Teresa Halbach, the judge agreed with the bio-pic’s filmmakers that the 16-year-old was mentally unfit, easily manipulated and mislead when police interrogated him.

The Netflix show suggested that Dassey’s then-lawyer, Kachinsky, made a deal that put his client behind bars when he should have tried to prove Dassey’s innocence.

Legal experts say that Dassey could sue police or even his own lawyer for millions of dollars, although winning won’t be easy. “He could sue his lawyer for putting him in the hands of his investigators, who just ripped him a new one,” Steve Cron, a veteran criminal defense attorney and Pepperdine University law professor, told TheWrap. He said Len Kachinsky, Dassey’s original attorney, had committed what amounted to “malpractice.”

Also Read: 'Making a Murderer’: Internet Flips Out Over Brendan Dassey’s Overturned Conviction

It is difficult to determine how much of an influence the series and ensuing media coverage had on the ruling, especially since the habeas petition for Dassey’s case was more than a year before the series debuted.

“My experience with federal judges is that they’re very careful about having outside influences affect their decisions,” attorney and UC Berkeley adjunct law professor Ramiah Brien said. “Especially in a case like this, I don’t think the judge would want the appearance that he was influenced by something other than what the attorneys were arguing in that brief.”

Related stories from TheWrap:

'Making a Murderer’: 8 Alternate Theories on Who Killed Teresa Halbach (Photos)

'Making a Murderer’: Who Should Star in the Inevitable Movie? (Photos)

'Making a Murderer’ DA Explains 5 Pieces of Evidence Not Shown in Doc Series (Video)