Anita Wadhwani

awadhwani@tennessean.com

It’s been called the “Making A Murderer” effect – the public debate, inspired by the hit Netflix series, over how police interrogate juveniles accused of serious crimes.

The 2015 documentary chronicled the murder and sexual assault convictions of Steven Avery and his 16-year-old nephew, Brendan Dassey, in Wisconsin a decade ago. Dassey, then a 16-year-old with intellectual disabilities, confessed during police interrogation without a lawyer or parent present. He later recanted.

A federal appeals court this week blocked the release of Brendan Dassey from a prison, while the state appeals another judge’s decision to overturn his conviction based on a finding Dassey had been coerced into confessing.

Since the series aired, states nationwide are considering strengthening protections for juveniles detained or questioned by police. In Tennessee, however, lawmakers voted against a new law that would have guaranteed minors more rights.

In August, Illinois governor Bruce Rauner signed a "Making a Murderer"-inspired law requiring the recording of all juvenile felony interrogations, simplified Miranda language for juveniles and requiring that a lawyer be present for any interrogation of a juvenile under the age of 15 in a murder or sex crimes case.

At least 17 other states have enacted laws that require Miranda warnings spelling out the rights of those questioned by police be rewritten in language that is more understandable to minors.

Two dozen states require police to allow parents to be informed and present during police interrogations of their children. Nineteen states requires police to record interrogations of juveniles.

Tennessee has no minimum age for when a child can be arrested or questioned by police. And while children have the same right to an attorney as an adult, there are no special state guidelines to make sure children understand those rights. Local police in some cases have their own policies.

“We would want some kind of informed consent when it comes to abortion or other issues, so why not with something as important when talking about someone’s freedom for the rest of their lives?” said Mike Sparks, a Republican lawmaker from Smyrna.

Sparks’ introduced a measure earlier this year would have required a parent, guardian or lawyer be present during any interview or interrogation of a child and that all interrogations be videotaped. It failed.

“Not everyone has access to an attorney, and, sadly, some aren’t going to have two parents in the household,” he said. “My issue is by no means light on crime. Police and prosecutors – they are concerned about getting a prosecution. I don’t think they are looking out for the future of that child, whether they are 6 years old or 16.”

Lawmakers who opposed the measure said such policies are overly broad and tie the hands of law enforcement who are pursuing routine investigation of crimes.

“By and large, most of us are very proud of our deputies and sheriffs and officers and they want this done right,” said Rep. William Lamberth, a Republican representing parts of Sumner County. “They want to get to the truth and they don’t want to arrest someone who is not guilty of a crime.”

In some cases, parents could be complicit in alleged crimes involving their children, making requirements for parents to be present a barrier to investigating crime, he said.

"Making A Murderer" interrogation not unique

Advocates for juveniles in Tennessee point out that Dassey’s interrogation was not unique.

In July, a mother filed a federal suit against a Murfreesboro police officer, the city and Rutherford County after her daughter was one of 10 children detained by officers at school who were arrested and transported to the police station while being denied access to their parents after being accused of participating in a videotaped bullying of another child.

And for more than a decade, a Methodist minister has been advocating for the release of a Laotian-born man, who, at 16, received a 40-year sentence for a crime he now says he did not commit. The Rev. Diana DeWitt has written to state and federal officials, enlisted the aid of a private investigator and gathered thousands of pages of police reports and court records to try to overturn the conviction of Oudon Panyanouvong, now 34, who was convicted in the home-invasion murder of Sangler Stabler, a Murfreesboro father of two.

DeWitt said the police interrogation video shows how the investigation went wrong from the start.

“If you cannot afford to hire a lawyer, one will be appointed to represent you,” the detective starts out the interview with Panyanouvong, a trim teen in a Dodgers T-shirt.

“Is there one right now?” asks Oudon Panyanouvong.

“Hmm?” the detective says.

“Is there a lawyer right now or do you all have to call him in?” Panyanouvong asks.

The detective paused, then said: “You have to go before the court and petition to have a lawyer.”

After hanging his head for a moment, the teen signed a paper saying he was waiving his right to an attorney. He went on to confess he had participated in robberies in the neighborhood of the crime, but did not commit the murder.

“it was just such a failure of the process,” DeWitt said. “There were so many injustices in Oudon’s case – no parents being present during the interrogation, being held for eight hours. You can see clearly that even Oudon, a 16-year-old with English as a second language, knew he had a right to an attorney – and they didn’t get him one.”

Jerry Buting, an attorney who represents Avery in Making a Murder’s said similar interrogations “happen every day single day in this country.”

“The reaction of most of the public who watched Making a Murderer has been outrage at the techniques employed to extract a confession from 16-year-old, learning-disabled Brendan Dassey,” he said. “Many parents were shocked to see that police can take a child out of class and bring him down to a police station and interrogate him without a parent or lawyer present.”

In Tennessee, a task force convened by the lawmakers to weigh new approaches to juvenile justice will be issuing recommendations in January, but changes to rules for police interrogating minors are not expected to be among them.

Reach Anita Wadhwani at 615-259-8092 or on Twitter @AnitaWadhwani.

This is part four of an occasional series. "Sentencing Children" is a collaboration between The Tennessean, Daniel H. Birman Productions and "Independent Lens," a PBS series presented by ITVS.