Brendan Dassey, whose conviction was highlighted in the popular Netflix documentary “Making a Murderer,” asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to throw out the confession he made more than a decade ago, saying it was improperly coerced. His confession has been both affirmed and thrown out by lower courts, and his lawyers are now arguing that the Supreme Court should weigh in. Dassey had substantial intellectual and social deficits, according to his petition, which was filed by longtime Supreme Court practitioner Seth Waxman, a former solicitor general under President Bill Clinton. “The resulting confession was more theirs than his.”The Supreme Court ruled decades ago that courts must give “the greatest care” to evaluating whether a minor’s confession is voluntary, Dassey’s petition notes. “Dassey was subjected to myriad psychologically coercive techniques, but the state court did not review his interrogation with the special care required by Supreme Court precedent.”The case is Dassey v. Dittmann.

Source: Washington Post February 20, 2018 21:21 UTC