01x10 - Fighting for Their Lives

[bunniefuu]

We had a pretty good idea
going into this prosecution

the kind of individual that Mr. Avery was.

I think that what Mr. Avery did
to Teresa Halbach

should, uh, speak volumes as to
the kind of person that Mr. Avery is.

That's why I'm very happy
that the citizens of Manitowoc County

won't need to worry about Mr. Avery
being on their streets anymore.

In the Penny Beerntsen case,

Steven Avery went to prison
for something he didn't do,

and everybody was convinced
that he did it.

And lo and behold, hey,

here's, uh, evidence beyond doubt
that he did not do it.

But in the Halbach case,
investigative techniques

and interrogation techniques are much
better today than they were then.

Around here, the feeling is Steven Avery
got what he deserved

and he is where he belongs.

Back behind bars for the rest of his life.

They ruined us.

They ruined our business.

I always thought Avery was a good name.

They knocked the name
right down to nothing.

This one's worse
than the first one.

There's no family here no more.

I don't talk to hardly nobody anymore.

I don't think we're going to, really.

To get over this.
Unless he can get out.

I didn't think I was
ever gonna get arrested again in my life.

And just, boom.

It took a lot... to keep my sanity.

I gotta prove my innocence again,
just like my first case.

Once I prove my innocence, that clears me
and Brendan and my whole family.

Any metal?

When you appeal it,
when you ain't got no money,

then they give you appellate attorneys.

The appellate attorneys,

they gotta find a loophole
that what they did, it's not legal.

We are here on the defendant's
post-conviction motion.

I will note for the record
the defendant is...

What I'd like... He always got...
He's got the same judge, yeah?

That scares me.

All we can do is hope for the best,

but I got a hunch, anything,
it'll have to go to appeals court.

That's my...

I hope I'm wrong.

Ma's got a lot of hope
for a new trial.

The courtroom today
was full of family and friends

from both the Halbachs
and the Averys.

Today's hearing is essentially
to ask the judge

who presided over the trial
to change his mind.

Judge Willis expects to issue
a written decision by December 1st.

And Avery's nephew, Brendan Dassey,
has also filed some post-trial motions.

He'll have hearings similar
to his uncle's beginning January 15th.

They always have everything ready
for me when I come.

It's such a small prison, you know,
the parking lot's really small.

They see my car drive up
and they got everything out for me.

Everything all set up.
My badge out there.

Everything all ready.

Have to laugh. It's...

It's not good to be known
that well in a prison.

I started writing to Steven
after watching the trial,

thinking that they couldn't possibly
convict this man.

And then when the verdict came back,

I just wanted to let him know
that I supported him,

and I truly did not believe
that he did it.

I talked
to her a few times over the phone...

and then she wanted to come
to Boscobel to see me,

so I put her on the visiting list.

I went down there with the thought
that I could be a blessing to him

and it turned out
that he was a blessing to me.

He helped me through a lot
with my husband's illness.

My husband had dementia
along with Parkinson's.

And Steven helped me through it.

And he always tells me
it worked both ways.

We encouraged each other.

It was just a friendship at that time.

But Sandy, she was there for me
and she believed in me.

So I fell in love with all of that,
and I fell in love with her.

Several months after
my husband passed away,

my friends told me that there
was more going on between Steven and me

than what I wanted to admit.

And I remember when I went to see Steven,

I said, "I've been told
that there's more to our relationship."

And he says to me, "You mean,
you haven't felt it all this time?"

Those were his exact words,
and I said, "No."

She likes everything I like.

Sandy's mostly the important person
in my life

and you might figure, my future.

In '85, they only took my brother away...

for something he didn't do.

And they knew it.

And now...

they took my brother away and my son.

If Steven would've did it,
I think he would've confessed by now.

If he did it.

And he hasn't confessed.

And that's what he did with the first one
when they sent him away for 18 years.

I believe he's still innocent.

And I know my son is innocent.

Brendan Dassey is now 19 years old

and spending the last part
of his teenage years

at Columbia Correctional Facility
in Portage.

Dassey's new attorneys say
he should have a new trial.

The jury did not hear a lot of evidence

which would've explained to them
why Brendan confessed to a crime

that he did not commit.

I had heard about this case
from the get-go.

When Steven Avery was arrested
and charged with Teresa Halbach's m*rder,

that was big news in the innocence world.

When Brendan was arrested,
that was immediately on my radar screen

because it was one of the first
video-recorded interrogations

in the State of Wisconsin,

and I had been involved in the litigation

that led the Supreme Court
to require videotaping.

Steve Drizin has made his life work
studying false confessions...

so I was very pleased
that somebody with the resources,

the experience and the credibility,
especially on confession issues,

took over the case.

That was huge.

It was at that point I was willing
to step in, um, just to watch them work.

See them do what they do
and to be a part of that.

What we argue
in our post-conviction motion

is that Brendan's pre-trial attorney,
Len Kachinsky,

violated his duty of loyalty to Brendan.

Every attorney in this country
owes a duty of loyalty to their clients.

That's part of the constitutional
right to counsel.

And what happened in this case
is that Attorney Kachinsky

took steps to essentially coerce Brendan
into pleading guilty.

And we argued that Attorney Kachinsky's
behavior is absolutely intolerable,

that no court in Wisconsin
should sanction that kind of conduct

and that Brendan should get a new trial.

You were appointed,
was it on March 7th or March 8th?

- March 7th.
- March 7th. OK.

Did you talk to Brendan on that day,
on March 7th?

- I don't believe I did.
- OK.

However, you did talk to the press,
is that right?

Yes, shortly after the appointment,
the calls started rolling into the office.

Sure.

I want to draw your attention
to a news report from Channel 26

that says, "We have a 16-year-old who,
while morally and legally responsible,

was heavily influenced by someone
that can only be described

as something close to evil incarnate."
Right?

That's what it says I said,
but that wasn't me.

OK. Um...

Is there anything about this statement
that bothers you?

To say that we have a 16-year-old
who's morally and legally responsible,

that would in effect admit guilt

and that is something
you should definitely not say.

Just for the record, Your Honor,
Mr. Kachinsky testified

that he did not make those comments

and this exhibit is being introduced
as impeachment evidence

to demonstrate that in fact
Mr. Kachinsky made those comments.

The court will receive it.

Attorney Len Kachinsky
immediately lashed out at Steven Avery.

We have a 16-year-old who,
while morally and legally responsible,

was heavily influenced by someone
that can only be described

as something close to evil incarnate.

And, uh, the next day,
you make the statement

that "if the confession is valid
and admissible as evidence,

it would almost certainly
result in a conviction."

- Right?
- Correct.

OK. You still hadn't reviewed
Brendan's statement, right?

- No. That's correct.
- That first statement?

- Correct.
- All right. March 10th appears to be

the first time you went to see him,
is that...?

- That sounds correct.
- OK.

And when you got out from that meeting,

the press was there
waiting for you, right?

- They were there waiting when I got there.
- OK.

- Yes, they were.
- All right.

I want you to refer to an interview
with you from NBC 26.

It says that,
"Kachinsky says at this point

he hasn't ruled out negotiating
a plea deal in the case." Right?

- That's correct.
- OK.

And how did that advance Brendan's case?

Because I knew that Brendan's family
was watching these newscasts

and so in effect it was a message
to try to get them accustomed to the idea

that Brendan might take a legal option
that they don't like,

so part of the intended audience
was Brendan Dassey's family.

- Yeah...
- And Brendan himself.

About his only contact with the outside
world was, uh, visits with his parents

- and, uh, television.
- Yeah. Now...

Brendan's best interest was to demonstrate
that he had his own moral compass.

And he wasn't necessarily the pawn
of the Avery family,

that he could make his own moral decisions
as to what was right or wrong

under all the circumstances,

and part of that would be to admit
being involved, you know,

in the death of Teresa Halbach.

During that meeting with Brendan
on that day,

uh, he told you he didn't do this.
Correct?

I believe he did.

And he told you that what he said

and what was in the complaint
about what he said was not true. Correct?

- I believe he said that.
- OK.

And he also told you at that time
that he wanted to take a polygraph test

- to prove that, correct?
- Oh, correct. Yes.

OK. So Brendan is asserting his innocence.

- Yes.
- When he talks to you.

Imagine if you were in Brendan's position,

a 16-year-old charged
with one of the most serious crimes

you could possibly be charged with.

You're intellectually limited, you may not
understand what's happening to you.

You may not even understand the difference
between your attorney and the police.

And imagine that the one person
who is supposed to defend you

against the entire State of Wisconsin
believes that you're guilty

despite the fact that you're telling him
that you're innocent.

Are you set to proceed, Mr. Dvorak?

- We are, Judge.
- Go ahead.

I would call Michael O'Kelly, please.

Mr. O'Kelly, come on up here,
take the oath, and then be seated.

Yes, Your Honor.

Michael O'Kelly
was an investigator

that was hired by Len Kachinsky

to give Brendan a polygraph exam.

But Mr. O'Kelly's role grew and grew

in ways that, to me, highlight

how Mr. Kachinsky was not interested
in what Brendan had to say.

He was only interested
in getting Brendan to plead guilty

so Brendan could be an asset
for the prosecution against his uncle.

At some point, you went out
and started to gather evidence, right?

- Yes.
- OK.

Let's go to exhibit number 64.

And is that an email
that you sent to Len Kachinsky?

- Yes, it is.
- April 27th?

- That's correct.
- All right.

Go to the paragraph where it says,
"I am not concerned."

"I am not concerned
with finding connecting evidence

placing Brendan inside the crime scene,

as Brendan will be State's
primary witness.

This will only serve
to bolster the prosecution.

Brendan's truthful testimony
may be the breakthrough

that will put their case
more firmly on all fours."

So your goal is not only
to get Brendan to confess,

but to also go out and gather evidence
to help the State in its prosecution.

- Correct?
- That is correct.

Even if that evidence
tends to inculpate Brendan.

- I... Yes, that's correct.
- OK.

Now you're working for Mr. Kachinsky
at this time, right?

Yes, I am.

And you're also working
for Brendan Dassey at this time, correct?

- Brendan is my client. Yes.
- OK.

And what you're talking about here
is securing evidence

that would be useful to the prosecution
in prosecuting Steven Avery,

and you make reference
to Brendan's testimony.

That's correct.

This kind of cooperation
between a defense investigator

and the prosecution is unheard of.

- You all set?
- Yep. Thanks very much.

So in a sense, they were working
for the prosecution.

They were working for the police
and working for Mr. Kratz

to build their case against Steven Avery

while at the same time
damaging Brendan's chances.

And it all came to a head
on Friday night, May 12th.

Len and O'Kelly decide
that they want to visit Brendan

as soon as the court rules
on his motion to suppress.

If Brendan loses his motion to suppress,

the confession is coming into evidence
and the case against Brendan

is gonna be much harder to b*at.

In the scope of the case,
that's one of the most important decisions

and they knew that Brendan
would be at his lowest point

when he learned that
that confession was coming in.

All right. Stop there.

This is a picture of a ribbon
hanging on a tree.

Oh, sure, yes. Um...

I believe
it's Teresa's church in the background.

- OK. And that has...
- God, I apologize.

OK. All right.

Now you laid those things out prior
to Brendan coming into the room, right?

- Oh, yes.
- All right.

And this is part of your plan
to get a statement from Brendan, correct?

- To get an admission? Yes.
- All right.

I want to refer you to your email
to Mr. Kachinsky on May 9th.

Would you read from the third paragraph?

"Brendan needs to be alone.

When he sees me this Friday,
I will be a source of relief.

He needs to trust me in the direction
that I steer him into.

We need to separate him from fantasy

and bring him to see reality
from our perspective."

Was all of this done pursuant
to instructions from Mr. Kachinsky?

Oh, sure, yes.

From the first sh*t
where you see this table

where he had this picture
of Teresa Halbach...

and the church and the ribbon,
what a production. My God.

The extent and the level
to which he went to...

coerce this confession.

It was just amazing.

You know, it's everything
that you talk about.

All the methods to get
an unreliable confession.

It's clearly where his heart was.

Tell me how you start that email
to Mr. Kachinsky on May 9th.

"I am learning the Avery family history

and about each member
of the Avery family.

These are criminals.

There are members engaged
in sexual activities

with nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws.

Customers or their relatives unwittingly
become victims of their sexual fantasies.

This is truly where the devil
resides in comfort."

I just keep thinking
about that blue ribbon. I'm sorry.

"I can find no good in any member.

These people are pure evil.

A friend of mine suggested,
'This is a one-branch family tree.

Cut this tree down.
We need to end the gene pool here.'"

We saw things that I think have never
been seen before in a court of law.

I can't think of another case where
a defense attorney and his investigator,

um, plotted to pressure their client
to plead guilty to a case that he was...

in which he was expressing his innocence.

That tape
was somewhat disturbing, I think.

It was extraordinarily disturbing and
Michael O'Kelly is a seasoned investigator

and I believe what he did
to Brendan Dassey traumatized him.

So the first question
you have to ask yourself is

do you want to spend
the rest of your life in prison?

So is that a yes or a no?

- I can't hear you.
- No.

All right.

Do you want to get out
and have a family someday?

Well, that means
you have to cooperate with me

and help me work with you.

O'Kelly is using these tools
to break Brendan down,

to get him to confess again.

And he finally succeeds.

Draw a picture of the bed
and how she was tied down.

But draw it big-sized so we can see it.

And the first thing he does is he picks up
the phone and he calls Len Kachinsky.

Hi, Len?

Hi, Len, this is Mike O'Kelly.

I'm with Brendan right now.

Oh, quite well. Quite well. Very well.
He's given a detailed statement.

And then they arrange for Brendan to be
interrogated again the next day on tape

by the very same police officers
who manipulated him before, um...

without Len Kachinsky being present.

I was told by your attorney
that you wanted to talk to us...

So on May 13th,
these investigators,

they think they're gonna get gold.

They think they're gonna get
a confession from Brendan

that is gonna be a game changer.

It's gonna have even more details,

it's gonna lead them
to new information

and that Brendan is now
gonna be their star witness.

But what do they get instead?
They get crap.

At what point did you put her cell phone
and camera and purse and stuff

in the burn barrel?

- I didn't.
- OK, who did?

- Probably Steven.
- No, not "probably." Who did?

If you know, you need to tell me.

You were over there.

- Steven did.
- Did you see him do it?

- Yeah.
- No, honestly, yes or no,

did you see him do it?

Don't lie about it. If you did, good.

If you didn't, good.
Did you see him do that?

No.

This is somebody who obviously
doesn't know what to say.

And is obviously saying
whatever he thinks the officers

and his defense attorneys want him to say.

And the resulting story is widely
different than what he said on March 1st.

What's happening is he's just generating
more and more conflicting statements

and essentially muddying up
the State's case.

So they come up with a plan
and the plan is to persuade Brendan

to call his mother later that evening

and to talk to her
about his role in the offense.

When are you gonna
tell your mom about this?

Probably the next time I see her.

'Cause you've lied to her so far, right?

Don't you think you should
call her and tell her?

- Yeah.
- When you gonna do that?

Probably tonight.

Don't you think she'd like to hear it
coming from you rather than from me?

- So you gonna do that?
- Yeah.

- When you gonna do that?
- Tonight.

Probably be a good idea,
before we tell her.

At the time that you had suggested
to Brendan that he call his mother,

you knew that calls
from the jail were recorded, didn't you?

- Yes.
- OK.

And you wanted Brendan to call his mother
and to repeat what he had told you.

- Is that right?
- Yes, for several different reasons.

One of those reasons was that you knew
that if he did that,

that conversation could be introduced
against him in court. Is that right?

No, it was not our thought
at that time.

Our thought was
we were dealing with Barb constantly.

She would be on our side,
she'd be with us to help us

and then she would be mad at us,
things like that.

Um, we wanted Barb's cooperation.

That was the purpose of that.

Did you suggest to Brendan that perhaps,
if that was your objective,

that he might ask his mother to come
to the jail to speak to her about that?

- Did I ask Brendan to do that?
- Yeah.

- No.
- Basically, what you said here was that

unless he called her that night
that you would tell her.

- Isn't that right?
- That's true. Yes.

And so Brendan complied.

He went back to his cell and he called his
mother on the recorded prison telephones.

And he said to her,
"Mom, Michael O'Kelly

and Mark Wiegert think I'm lying.

They told me if I say I did this,
I won't be doing life in prison.

And I might even get out
to have a family."

Those are things
that didn't come from the police,

those are things that
Michael O'Kelly told him.

So Brendan is explaining to his mother,

"My defense team is telling me
I need to say I did this."

And that's what he tells his mother.

He says, "Mom, I did some of it."

And she says, "Brendan, how could you
possibly have done some of this?

I saw you at home at 5:00 p.m.
on October 31st.

You weren't over at Steven's.
You were at home."

And he says, "Oh, well, I went back
to Steven's after I saw you."

That's important because the State used
that May 13th recorded telephone call

against Brendan at trial.

And it would've never come about,
never come about,

absent the actions of attorney Kachinsky.

They weren't supposed
to use those statements.

There was a gentleman's agreement
that this was a lost weekend

because Len Kachinsky allowed Brendan
to be interrogated without counsel.

But they used them. They got greedy.

And they used them in a way that was
very powerful and persuasive to the jury

and almost ensured that Brendan
would be convicted.

And when he got back at 5:00...
he could've told his mother.

As we know in the call,

and as she rightly noted, "I would've put
you in the car and we would've left."

But he goes back.

We know he goes back because he tells
his mother in those phone conversations

ten weeks later on May 13th and May 15th
that he went back, that he was there.

They set Brendan up.

Who's there for Brendan?

He's all alone.

And that's the main reason
why he deserves a new trial

is because the actions
that his own attorney

and his investigator took

so damaged his chances
of ever winning this case,

that he needs a do-over.

Judge Willis,
he wasn't on my side at all.

I knew I wasn't gonna
get no play from him.

He thought I was guilty anyway.

I'm just waiting for the next step,
you know?

The governor of Wisconsin has called
for the resignation of a state prosecutor

after the prosecutor admitted to sending

more than 30 sexually suggestive
text messages

to a domestic abuse victim
whose case he was handling.

The scandal
remained quiet until last week

when the Associated Press
revealed the text messages.

"I'm the attorney," he wrote.
"I have the $350,000 house.

I have the six-figure career.

You may be the tall, young, hot nymph,
but I am the prize.

Are you the kind of girl
that likes secret contact

with an older married elected DA,
the riskier the better?"

When I heard about
Ken Kratz and his sexting, I thought,

"Well, Ken Kratz, that's his ethics."

I intend to continue to serve
as the Calumet County District Attorney...

Stephanie Van Groll reported
the harassment to the police,

who turned the case over
to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

They chose to take
very little action against him.

New details tonight
about a text messaging scandal.

Now we are learning
that Kratz took steps

to try to keep that case
from going public.

I guess
the Justice Department knew

about a year before they put it out.

They stick up for their own people.

Governor, why did it
take a year for this to be made public?

At least five women
have come forward.

The office of lawyer responsibility
closed it out without doing anything.

What is going on in the Wisconsin
Department of Justice?

I had gone from being one
of the most respected DAs in the state

to vilified and hated
and altogether forgotten.

There's a huge disconnect there.

I mean, the judge did remove Kachinsky

because he had allowed Brendan

to talk to the police
without him being there.

But if he did that, he should also
have suppressed the statement

that was used to impeach Brendan.

To recognize on the one hand
that a lawyer is ineffective

and then allow the fruits
of that ineffectiveness

to be used to the admission of another
confession, I mean, it's a problem.

It's a serious problem.

Brendan tells me they treat him OK.

I mean, he plays games
with the other inmates.

And he does his schooling.

He's trying for his high school diploma.

I seen him yesterday. It was nice.

We played 61 games of Uno.

I think he misses everybody.

Talks about babysitting.

That he misses doing that.

Talks about playing his Nintendo.

They should be outta there.
They don't belong in the prison.

Put the ones in there that done something,
not the innocent ones.

Them cops should sit there for a while.
Like about 50 years.

And see how they feel
and how their family feels.

We still love 'em.

Yep.

Always.

I always feel
like they kicked me in the gut again.

You only got maybe a second there
to realize you lost again,

then you got another step
and the Supreme Court,

and you get your high hopes up.

They should've did something.

They should hear it
because the case don't make no sense.

You always get let down
by the court system.

Of all the years that I've known
him, this is the roughest I've seen him.

He just seems hopeless
and depressed, I say.

I don't think he can cope anymore.

Boscobel is a prison for violent criminals

and Steven has never
been violent in prison.

So the least they could do is move him.

Getting out of where he is,

I think that's what he wants right now.

And of course eventually out the door.

Is there anybody
sitting at this table

that thinks that regardless of what
procedural chances he still has...

- he has any substantive chances?
- Certainly, if we could do a test today

that was scientifically acceptable
and valid,

that actually proved there was EDTA
in those blood stains,

- that would be newly-discovered evidence.
- Right.

That might be the ticket to a new trial.

It's interesting,
the parallels with Steve's first case.

- Right.
- What ultimately freed him

was newly-discovered evidence

where the technology advanced
to the stage where you could test the DNA.

And in this case, we're looking for
technology to do the same kind of thing.

To show that, uh,
the evidence at the original trial

really did not mean what the State
was arguing it meant

and what the jury believed that it meant.

Or some other newly-discovered evidence.

Other people who know something.

I'm still hopeful that someone with that
kind of knowledge is gonna come forward.

I've still got my suspicions about...
whether something improper occurred

during the deliberations.

I gotta tell you. I mean,
if I'm gonna be perfectly candid,

there's a big part of me
that really hopes Steven Avery

is guilty of this crime.

Because the thought of him
being innocent of this crime, um,

and sitting in prison again...

for something he didn't do,
and now for the rest of his life

without a prayer of parole, um...
I can't take that.

And Brendan Dassey, um...

they had a demonstrably untrue confession

from a seriously compromised kid.

Um...

Scares the hell outta me.

I don't know what the other jurors
are feeling, but... you know...

I know what I'm feeling is hard.

It is difficult for me.

Even though I didn't make
the final decision on the verdict

because I wasn't there,
it's still difficult for me.

I constantly think about the trial.

You know, I feel bad that...

I mean, I feel terrible that, you know...

Teresa is gone, you know,
a life was taken.

But I also on the other hand
feel bad because...

Steve and Brendan's life
was taken from them, basically.

People tell me to just forget about it.
It's over with.

But in my mind
it's not over with because...

I don't know, I think that...

deep in my heart, with all the evidence
and all the things I know, that, um...

whoever did this to Teresa
is still out there.

I always think
about Steven's feelings, how he's hurt.

But I'm out in the open.

It's a little easier to go through that
than when you're in a cage.

That's all he's got to think about.

I'm sticking by Steven.

And I'm sticking by Brendan.

I picked this house out for Steven
when he gets out.

So he's got somewhere to live.

Looks like a pretty nice house.
It's got fruit trees in there.

Half of his life is gone
when he spent half of it in the...

in the prisons for something
he don't even do.

I asked for all the files.

I'm trying to fight for a new trial.

But this time, I'm doing it
because this is my life, my freedom.

Now I'm trying to look up cases
and the law in the law library.

He has to go in
without a real good education,

go into a law library and try
to go through all the books he can

to find any examples
of what he might use in his case.

These are all of the transcripts
and case files of Steven's.

Twenty-four boxes-full.

Steve's mom brought them from the prison
and he got copies of everything

to go through his case bit by bit.

I had, you know,
a couple of boxes in my cell,

then the other ones were stored
in a... in a room.

So when I got done with some boxes,
then I could put 'em back

and get some more boxes.

That's why it's so hard to work
on a big case like this.

You can't have it all when you need it.

Sometimes in the middle of the night I'd
think of something and I had to go search.

Sometimes you go... you want to say, nuts.

But something just bugs you
and you gotta do it.

You gotta get up and do it.

I wrote the Innocence Project... if the
Innocence Project would help me again.

I wrote 'em a few times...

but they won't take my case.

Then there's that blood,

if I could prove
that it came from the courthouse.

I wrote to get a good lab to do it.

I filed my 974.06.

Now I'm trying to get the judge
to give me a lawyer...

so I don't screw up.

I'm still learning,
so I don't know everything.

I gotta give him a lot of credit
for what he's doing

and hope and pray that it works out.

You might
as well figure I'm doing it all.

Kohlrabi. Huh?

Them are good raw.

Slice 'em thin, put a little salt on.

Radishes. Onions. Lettuce.
There's lettuce over here.

I know you like lettuce.

Bugs and all.

Tomatoes. Peppers. Carrots.

Asparagus. Cucumber.

Cabbage.

My dream right now is get out...

buy me a lot of land
and live up in the woods.

Make me a big pond so I can fish.

Do my garden, and have my animals.

So I don't have to go into town
and buy food.

I'll have it all right there.

I guess Sandy wants to get married
so I'll get married.

And I'll have my wife,
and then my ma and my dad.

I'm gonna take care of them.

I really don't need nothing else.

Today a decision from
the State Supreme Court

on one of Wisconsin's notorious murders.

Yeah, it won't hear a Manitowoc man's
arguments for a new trial.

Brendan Dassey was sentenced
to life in prison

for the 2005 slaying of Teresa Halbach.

The k*lling drew extraordinary attention
because Dassey's uncle, Steven Avery,

also was convicted in the crime.
The Supreme Court won't hear the case

after the appeals court
upheld the verdict.

It's the function
of post-conviction courts

and appellate courts

to make sure that the system works
the way it's supposed to.

That where failures start to happen...

that they do something about it.

I've always believed it would be very
difficult for Brendan to get relief

in the Wisconsin State Court system.

This case was just too much of a heater.

So we recently filed
a federal habeas petition

to try to get his conviction vacated.

Everybody has the right under
the US Constitution to a loyal attorney.

Everybody has a right
under the US Constitution

to not have a coerced confession
used against you.

Because these are rights
under the federal constitution,

we're asking for federal review
of these claims.

We are hopeful that we'll have
a better sh*t in a federal court.

The fight goes on.

"Dear people in the world,
my name is Brendan Dassey.

I am writing to let you know
that I am innocent

of the r*pe and m*rder of Teresa Halbach.

I was interrogated by the police
when I was 16 years old.

The investigators kept telling me
over and over they knew I was involved.

They also told me
if I just said I was involved,

they would help me
and that I wouldn't get in trouble.

I trusted them.

I told them a lot of things
that weren't true that day.

I thought I would
go back to school afterwards.

But they arrested me.

I haven't been free since that day.

I've missed out on high school, graduation
and a chance to get a girlfriend or a job.

My brothers have gotten married
and had children.

I wish I could have a family someday, too.

I am innocent of the r*pe and m*rder
of Teresa Halbach.

Please help me if you can.

Sincerely, Brendan Dassey."

Steven didn't call on Wednesday
night when he was supposed to.

And then on Thursday
I heard the operator say,

"A call from Waupun
Correctional Institution."

And my thought was,
"I don't know anyone in Waupun.

Who's calling me from Waupun Prison?"

And then it clicked just like that,
that they moved him.

He wanted us to wait,
his mother and father and myself,

wait a couple weeks
before we came and visited

because he wanted to get acclimated
a little bit to the institution

and know what the schedule was
and stuff like that.

And so we have waited and now it's time.

This will be the first contact visit
that I have ever had with him.

Ever since I've known him, seven years,

I have never been able to touch him...

hug him, hold his hand.

It's just exciting to know that his
parents will be able to hug their son.

The fact that he's actually at the table

and can talk with us
instead of behind glass...

Dry mouth. I think I'm nervous.

Little bit anxious.
This... ahh... feelings.

OK. In... Oh, no, I see it already.

That didn't take even 45 minutes.

So where do we park?

- What a g*dd*mn place.
- Yeah.

- This is terrible.
- OK, turn this way and turn around.

I can't turn down here, can I? No.

We did it before!

- Well, I ain't gonna do it again.
- Why not?

OK, now you can park there.

That's close enough.

What have you got in here,
the kitchen sink?

Something like that.

Take your driver's license.

Wait a minute. I got the wrong card.
I had my Sears card.

That wouldn't have worked too good,
would it?

No, that wouldn't work.
I don't think that would work.

When we left now,
I just hung onto him.

And I just... It was so good.

Just to be able to do that.

We asked him about a job here.
You know, this is a working prison.

His response was,
"I've got too many things to do."

He's gotta spend all his time in
the law library and working on his case.

He just can't let it go until
something big happens, something is done.

I hope the day comes where he's freed,
his name is finally cleared

and his parents are still there.

You know, it's so important to his mom
and dad that he gets out before they go.

Until it happens
to you or to your son or daughter

or someone else that you love,

it's easy to ignore all of the...
the problems in the system.

But I can guarantee you that
once it happens to somebody you love

or to yourself, uh, it'll be very clear.

Everybody seems still...

to be playing this the normal,
conventional, conservative way,

uh, which is that if the system
has the right lawyers

and if the lawyers do the right job,

then justice will be obtained
for Steven Avery. And...

I mean, at what point do people
start questioning that whole framework?

I would hope that the people
who watched the trial

and saw really what kind of evidence
the State did and didn't have,

I would hope that those people
don't give up on Steven Avery. Um...

Because this may take a while
to right this wrong.

It took 18 years the last time.

I certainly hope it doesn't take
another 18 years.

They think I'll stop
working on it and it'll be forgotten.

That's what they think.

But I want the truth. I want my life.

But they keep on taking it.

So I'm gonna keep on working.

Even if it's wrong.

I ain't gonna give up.

When you know you're innocent,
you will keep on going.

The truth always comes out...
sooner or later.