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Judge Orders Release Of 'Making A Murderer' Subject Brendan Dassey

Judge Orders Release Of 'Making A Murderer' Subject Brendan Dassey
Brendan Dassey appears in court Monday, April 16, 2007, at the Manitowoc County Courthouse in Manitowoc, Wis. Dassey, 17, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and first-degree sexual assault in the death of 25-year-old Teresa Halbach on Oct. 31, 2005. His uncle, Steven Avery, 44, was found guilty of her murder last month. (AP Photo/Dan Powers, Pool)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brendan Dassey appears in court Monday, April 16, 2007, at the Manitowoc County Courthouse in Manitowoc, Wis. Dassey, 17, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and first-degree sexual assault in the death of 25-year-old Teresa Halbach on Oct. 31, 2005. His uncle, Steven Avery, 44, was found guilty of her murder last month. (AP Photo/Dan Powers, Pool)
Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department/Handout via Reuters

A federal judge has ordered that “Making a Murderer” subject Brendan Dassey be released from prison pending an appeal, in a ruling released Monday.

Dassey was convicted in state court on charges related to the rape and murder of 25-year-old Teresa Halbach, who disappeared in November 2005 in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. He allegedly helped his uncle, Steven Avery, dispose of her body.

But in August, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Duffin overturned Dassey’s conviction, holding that his confession was involuntary under the Fifth Amendment.

At the time he confessed, Dassey was a teenager. He did not have a lawyer or a parent with him. And according to court records, his IQ was around the threshold for intellectual disability.

Under the terms of Dassey’s release, he cannot have a gun or any other weapons, possess controlled substances, or obtain a passport. He may travel only within the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

He is also barred from contacting Avery or the family of Halbach.

When Judge Duffin tossed out Dassey’s confession earlier this year, he also said that Dassey would be released within 90 days unless the state chose to retry him. The state has appealed that ruling ― which means the conviction could be reinstated or Dassey could still be retried.

Avery, his uncle, is serving a life sentence for murder.