Alison Dirr

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

CHICAGO - Now that the Wisconsin Department of Justice has filed its brief arguing that Brendan Dassey's confession was voluntary — and his conviction should stand — a series of legal steps await.

So what's the next step in Dassey's odyssey through the state and federal court system? Additional filings of court documents, at least for the near future.

The state's brief was filed Wednesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago, where the Wisconsin justice department is appealing a lower federal court decision to overturn Dassey's conviction in the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach.

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"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. After all these briefs are filed, the Seventh Circuit will schedule the case for oral arguments, likely for some time this winter," Rebecca Ballweg, senior communications specialist for the Wisconsin DOJ, wrote in an email in September.

The deadline for Dassey's attorneys to file their response brief is Nov. 18, according to online court records.

Alison Dirr: 920-996-7266 or adirr@gannett.com; on Twitter @AlisonDirr