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20th Dec 2019

Brendan Dassey denied pardon request by Wisconsin Governor

Paul Moore

Dassey’s case was documented in Making A Murderer.

Brendan Dassey has been denied a bid for pardon, Fox News has reported.

Dassey has spent over a decade in prison after he was convicted for murdering photographer Teresa Halbach. At the age of 16, Dassey was sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of the rape and murder of Teresa Halbach, a magazine photographer.

Dassey’s uncle, Steven Avery, was also arrested and imprisoned for his alleged role in Halbach’s death. Avery was charged with Halbach’s murder, kidnapping, sexual assault, and mutilation of a corpse on 11 November, 2005.

Both Dassey and Avery have consistently said they’re innocent. The case was made famous in the Netflix series, Making a Murderer.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers announced he will not consider Dassey’s pardon request because he does not meet the necessary criteria.

In October, Dassey submitted a handwritten note to Evers asking for the pardon.

“I am writing to ask for a pardon because I am innocent and want to go home,” Dassey said in a handwritten note that accompanied his application.

In a letter shared on Twitter by journalist Patrick Marley, Evers said Dassey was ineligible for a pardon.

“Unfortunately, we are unable to consider your application for pardon because you do not meet one or more of the required eligibility conditions,” it states.

In the letter, Evers states that he cannot consider the request for pardon for two reasons. The first is Dassey has not yet completed his “entire sentence for the conviction.”The second point said that Dassey must also register as a sex offender to be eligible for a pardon.

Both are requirements for a pardon to be considered, as per Wisconsin law, Evers’ letter states.

The letter adds that “the governor is not considering requests for commutation” too. No Wisconsin governor since Tommy Thompson, who left office in 2001, has issued a prison commutation.

Steven Avery’s lawyer, Kathleen Zellner, expressed her disappointment regarding the latest news about Dassey on Twitter.