Making a Murderer | Brendan Dassey: True Story of a False Confession

Join the University of St. Thomas School of Law for a discussion with Laura Nirider, attorney for Brendan Dassey and project director at the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth at Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, and other legal and law enforcement professionals. Nirider will discuss Dassey's interrogation and juvenile false confessions, and the full panel will weigh in on the topics of confessions, police interrogation and juvenile justice.

About Brendan Dassey and 'Making a Murderer'

Brendan Dassey and his uncle Steven Avery were convicted in 2007 of the murder of photographer Teresa Halbach in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. The two gained national attention in December 2015 when Netflix released a 10-part documentary, "Making a Murderer," which tells the story of their arrests, trials and convictions. Their stories are complicated in part by an earlier wrongful conviction in the same county, which put Avery in prison for 18 years. DNA evidence exonerated him of that crime in 2003, though he is now serving a life sentence in Waupun, Wisconsin, for Halbach's murder. Dassey, who was 16 at the time of his arrest, is currently serving a life sentence in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

On Dassey's behalf, Nirider recently filed a writ of habeas corpus in federal court, which requests that the now 26-year-old be granted a new trial on the grounds his original confession was unconstitutionally coerced out of him, and that his pretrial lawyer, attorney Len Kachinsky, violated his constitutional right to a loyal lawyer.

This event is open to the public. Tickets are $15. A limited number of St.Thomas law alumni and students get in free with the access code sent to their preferred email address on file.

For lawyers seeking continuing legal education credit, 2.5 standard CLE credits are approved.