Andy Thompson, and Alison Dirr

Post Crescent

In the wake of the federal court ruling in mid-August that overturned Brendan Dassey’s conviction in the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach, there was furious speculation and anticipation on social media that Dassey would soon be set free.

“Brendan Dassey is about to be released!” one ardent supporter of Dassey tweeted.

“Brendan Dassey could be released immediately,” tweeted another.

And this from a viewer of the ultra-popular Netflix docu-series “Making a Murderer”: “Brendan Dassey could be released from prison ANY day.”

Not so fast, say those who are familiar with the federal justice system — along with authorities who remain convinced of Dassey’s guilt and want him to remain behind bars for the rest of his life.

Dassey’s case now sits at the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. And it won’t be resolved overnight.

“The total length of time to a decision is variable and somewhat unpredictable, but likely between six and 18 months,” said Michael O’Hear, professor of law at Marquette University Law School.

That ruling will likely be followed by an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court by the losing side. Still to be resolved is whether state prosecutors will retry Dassey. That process could take an extended amount of time.

Dassey’s attorneys have filed a motion to release him while the appeal is pending, but the state is fighting that request.

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Legal process plays out

Optimism that Dassey would be released from prison, where he has been held for nearly 10 years, soared among his supporters after Federal Magistrate William Duffin of Milwaukee ruled Aug. 12 that Dassey’s confession to Halbach’s murder was involuntary. The judge determined that Dassey’s constitutional rights were violated and found that investigators made false promises to him during questioning.

Prosecutors were given 90 days to either release Dassey or initiate retrial proceedings. On Sept. 9, Attorney General Brad Schimel announced that Duffin’s ruling would be appealed.

Dassey’s legal team and the Wisconsin Department of Justice will now submit briefs to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Rebecca Ballweg, senior communications specialist at the Wisconsin Attorney General’s office, said the state will file a “merit brief” later this fall.

“Then, the plaintiff’s attorneys will file a reply brief. After that, the state will file a brief in reply to the plaintiff’s reply brief,” Ballweg wrote in an email to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. “After all these briefs are filed, the Seventh Circuit will schedule the case for oral arguments, likely for some time this winter.”

Attorney Laura Nirider of the Bluhm Legal Clinic at the Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, who is representing Dassey, said she expects legal briefs to be filed in connection with the appeal, “but it’s too early to say what schedule will be put in place.”

Key questions for appeals court

O’Hear said the appeals court will focus largely on the issue of reasonableness.

“The question is whether a reasonable court could have found that Dassey’s rights were not violated,” he said. “If this is the sort of thing over which reasonable judges could disagree, then Dassey loses.”

Nirider said she “can’t say with specificity exactly what questions will be presented for the appeals court to review.”

“Those questions will be formulated and presented to the court by the state,” Nirider wrote in an email. “Generally, the appeals court’s task will be to review Judge Duffin’s ruling, but I can’t speculate beyond that.”

After the Seventh Circuit issues its ruling, the case will likely head to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Whoever loses in the Seventh Circuit would ask for the Supreme Court to take the case,” O’Hear said. “However, the Supreme Court grants only a small percentage of such requests, so the odds are long against the Justices ever weighing in on this one.”

Dassey was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 after he was found guilty on multiple charges relating to the murder of Halbach, a 25-year-old freelance photographer.

Dassey’s uncle, Steven Avery, also is serving a life sentence in connection with Halbach’s death. Avery, too, is seeking to overturn his conviction.

Andy Thompson: 920-996-7270 or awthompson@postcrescent.com; on Twitter @Thompson_AW