Doug Schneider

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

"What does the overturning of Brendan Dassey's murder conviction mean for the Steven Avery case?" That was a popular question on journalists' minds this week.

Colleague Alison Dirr consulted legal experts and found the answer is … not much, probably.

"There is nothing in the judge's opinion on Dassey's case "that really speaks to the case against Avery or suggests that there's anything improper that was done in Avery's case or any reason to doubt the validity of Avery's conviction," Marquette University law professor Michael O'Hear said. "I think these two cases really need to be viewed as completely distinct from one another."

Both Avery and Dassey were convicted by juries in the brutal murder of photographer Teresa Halbach, who had gone to the Avery property in northwestern Manitowoc County to photograph a car that Avery had for sale. The case is chronicled in the 10-part Netflix documentary, 'Making a Murderer.'

Dirr's article also addresses questions about Avery defense lawyer Kathleen Zellner, former prosecutor Ken Kratz, and the all important "what's next?"

►The Tennessean asks similar questions of touring justice crusaders/former Avery attorneys Jerry Buting and Dean Strang, and gets a detailed answer (and there's video).

"We knew the tactics they were using were coercive, and picked on a 16-year-old with a learning disability and put him through something like that," Buting said of Dassey's interview with police investigators. "If the jury had seen that, it would have bolstered our argument: look at what lengths the prosecution will go to to get this man, Steven Avery."

►Former prosecutor Kenneth Kratz, however, says it's not over until it's over.

"The state couldn’t help it that Brendan Dassey had an IQ in the low 70s," Kratz tells Dirr. "They didn’t do anything to cause that, that just happened. They didn’t cause that Brendan was socially awkward or that he didn’t have a lot of communication skills. … But then again the state didn’t ask Brendan Dassey to be involved in a rape and a murder either.”

Some of the Dassey defense's arguments are that a person with more smarts and better social skills would have been better able to hold up under questioning by police investigators.

►Dirr also reports on the prosecution's options in the Dassey case — including a possible plea bargain — but urges Dassey's supporters not to contact the Wisconsin attorney general or the judge in the case.

"Some of you have asked whether it is appropriate to write to the federal judge who is presiding over Brendan’s habeas petition and urge him to release Brendan," the Center For Wrongful Convictions said on its website. "It is not appropriate, and we ask you not to do so."

►The UK's Express says the resolution of Dassey's case could take years — the Seventh Circuit is awfully busy, don'tcha know — but that Dassey's team is making sure their client and his family stay silent in the meantime.

"The last thing they want is to destroy all of the hard work they've done by talking about it publicly," advocate Shaun Attwood tells the website.

►The New York Times says Avery "appeared happy and shocked by the news," according to Zellner.

"I think he just couldn’t believe anything good had happened,” she said in a story that refers to "Mr. Avery" and "Mr. Dassey."

►Rolling Stone's story, "What Brendan Dassey Decision Means for Steven Avery" has a similar headline — but disappointingly says very little about the Avery case.

►The Federalist's David Harsanyi, in a piece Friday, proclaims Dassey "innocent" but says Avery remains "Gulity as Sin."

►Law.com reports that Dassey's appeals lawyer, Laura Nirider, sees the overturning of Dassey's conviction as "bittersweet."

►In the great tradition of seeking opinions from anyone with even the slightest connection to the principals in the case, People interviews Halbach's first grade teacher.

"Everyone feels for Teresa," Jean Wollerman, Halbach's first grade teacher, tells PEOPLE. "She is the victim here."

Wollerman also tells the world she thinks the "TV show" overturned Dassey's conviction (spoiler alert: It was a federal magistrate).

►Our colleague John Ferak rightly points out that the overturning of Dassey's conviction raises serious questions about the thought processes of the Court of Appeals, which had earlier upheld it.

Ferak's piece goes through the two rulings point by point, calling attention to the many differences.

►Time's Daniel D'Addario says 'Making a Murderer' can't claim credit for overturning Dassey's conviction.

"That the justice system caught up with all of us viewers feels satisfyingly like a piece of the universe clicking into place," he writes, "but says little for the show as a show other than that it found a good subject in its story’s background."

►Mirror.UK takes a statement from Zellner, and runs with it: "We know when an unbiased court reviews all of the new evidence we have," the attorney says, "Steven will have his conviction overturned as well."

►The Dassey camp is experiencing a range of emotions, lawyer Laura Nirider tells People: "Brendan's team feels shock, joy, relief and intense gratitude that this judge finally got it right, and finally gave Brendan justice," she says.

Dassey, she adds, is taking things "one day at a time."

►Buting and Strang also are "very gratified" by the Dassey decision.

"Brendan's statements were not only involuntary, they were completely contradicted by the lack of physical evidence. This shows the folly of coercing a statement from a vulnerable target," Buting told People. "It also vindicates what we have said for years: that law enforcement in the Teresa Halbach investigation was willing to go to extreme lengths to convict Steven Avery, the only person they seriously considered to be a suspect."

►Filmmakers Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi did a lengthy interview with IndieWire.com in which they say Zellner will play a major role in Season 2 of the series (they've "negotiated access" with Zellner and the lawyers for Dassey).

"Here we have a lawyer taking on this case, Kathleen, looking for answers," Demos says. "She may or may not find them, but that’s certainly a journey I think many viewers will want to take with her."

The story contains a big oops: It says Avery was previously exonerated in "another murder." Or maybe the author knows something we don't.

►Bustle.com says the Dassey decision makes Season 2 must-see TV. As if we weren't already planning to binge-watch when it comes out.

►Nancy Grace went all Nancy Grace with her reaction to the overturning of the Dassey conviction, according to Raw Story.

The TV talker said "Dassey couldn’t have been a victim of a coerced interrogation because he 'wasn’t mentally ill' and had an IQ 'within the normal range,'" the site reported. "In reality, an IQ of 70 is right on the bubble in most gauges between 'very low' and 'extremely low.'"

►Our Journal Sentinel friend Tom Kertscher, who covered the Avery trial and continues to follow the case, was a popular guy on talk radio after the Dassey news broke.

You can hear him say "Hey, Jenny" to Jenny McCarthy, and discuss the Dassey case and last weekend's Milwaukee riots with Connecticut Public Radio.

►TMZ.com in a story cleverly headlined "How about tat," claims Dassey's mom, Barbara Tadych, and an unidentified family friend got matching "Justice for Brendan" tattoos. On their thighs.

TMZ says the tats, complete with a butterfly logo, were administered about 20 minutes before news broke that Dassey's conviction had been overturned.

►Crazy headline of the week: A site called Movie News Guide wonders if the timing of the appeals court's ruling on Dassey's appeal was done "To Make Good TV?" Just … no.

►And if you still haven't seen the documentary, Business Insider has a plot-summary. Follow that with Thrillist's "Everything That's Happened Since ..." and you'll be up to speed.

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Timeline: History of the Steven Avery case

Related: “Making a Murderer” coverage, archived stories and more

dschneid@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @PGDougSchneider