“Taking the Alford Plea hurt my soul more than being found guilty in 1994 did," shares Jason Baldwin, a man who is so much more than a member of the West Memphis 3. “When they forced me to take the Alford Plea something in me broke…” The presumption of innocence and guilt beyond a reasonable doubt is seemingly reserved for a select few. For many flowing through the US system of [in]justice particularly children like 16-year-old Jason Baldwin and 16-year-old Brendan Dassey, the presumption of innocence is nothing more than a fallacy, a notion of intent not delivered. Contending with forces that ..read more

It’s lawful for police to use a variety of psychological techniques to induce suspects to confess including lying about evidence, accusatory questioning, and stomping their size tens up the nine steps of the REID technique because well, that’s what they’ve been taught. But times are a’changing. In this episode of the Sixth Hour, my guests provide alternative, strategic interrogation practices grounded in science and rooted in humanity, what a revolution right? Join me as we step into the interrogation room of Brendan Dassey and others with Dave Thompson, Partner and President of Wicklander Zul ..read more

Did you walk past, or did you stop? Were you called to act – to advocate - to just do something, because doing nothing felt like a crime? When Making a Murderer was unleashed on an unsuspecting seasonal audience in the December of 2015, it triggered a gut punch for millions of people and birthed a community of criminal justice activists that continues to thrive five-plus years on. On this episode of the Sixth Hour, I’m joined by Stacey Seabrook, Paul Capaldi, and Mark Hoddinott to discuss the role of advocate and what that entails in the context of the wrongful conviction of Brendan Dassey and ..read more

“I’ll be honest if somebody waives their Miranda rights, and we know how to get people to waive their Miranda rights – we know how to manipulate the hell out of them …” shares former homicide detective, author, reformer, and wrongful conviction expert James Trainum. “You could almost put pins under their fingernails and it’s [confession] still voluntary because of that paper that they sign,” he adds. Joining the Sixth Hour, James Trainum author of How Police Generate Confessions: An Inside Look at the Interrogation Room, shares how his life as a homicide detective in Washington D.C. was transf ..read more

When the federal judges that made up the en banc majority found that while there were factors that supported finding Brendan Dassey’s confession involuntary; that his confession was riddled with inconsistencies and that interrogators did offer up broad assurances that honesty would be rewarded with leniency, the slim majority determined that this was not enough to uphold what four other federal judges found to be a “profound miscarriage of justice.” For the majority climbing the insurmountable wall that AEDPA built took a judicial courage they lacked. In this episode of the Sixth Hour, I’m joi ..read more

“It was rumoured that there were people in the department of justice here saying, ‘leave it alone, don’t take it further,’ there are people who were offended but you know we got to have our win,” recalls Professor Michele LaVigne. As Brendan’s post-conviction appeal steamrolled its way through the federal courts the Wisconsin legal fraternity was as split as the en banc majority who had abandoned their call to conscience. In this episode I am joined by Professor LaVigne Clinical Professor of Law Emeritus and co-author of the herculean analysis; Under the Hood: Brendan Dassey, Language Impairme ..read more

“Because we could all watch it and we could see it and we could see that slow transformation from no to yes, it just seemed to typify in a way everything that is wrong with police interrogation of children in this country,” said Professor Marsha Levick. As Brendan Dassey’s case hurled through the federal appellate court system, a chorus of eminent voices joined the fight for justice as a day of reckoning with the United States Supreme Court loomed. Battling false promises of special care and the immovable stain of judicial ignorance, a coalition of the country’s brightest minds including The J ..read more

How culpable was the media in the wrongful conviction of Brendan Dassey? Did the infamous March 2nd press conference directed by DA Kratz prejudice, not just a potential jury pool but the entire state of Wisconsin? Destroying Brendan Dassey’s presumption of innocence with every word uttered Kratz tightened the shackles on young Brendan’s wrists and ankles as future fact finders and the local community recoiled in horror. With his freedom ebbing away Brendan grappled with his lack of comprehension and apathetic legal representation as he embarked on the fight for his life. In this installm ..read more

The trial judge says, “so Miranda warnings are not an issue, so, mirandizing is not an issue, and neither is the custodial or non-custodial … okay moving on.” Now it’s in the record, he has sealed the fate. Brendan has had some amazing attorneys work on his case, but I don’t care how good they are that single interchange made their job almost insurmountable, says Dean Brian Gallini. In the first episode of season two, Dean Brian Gallini of Willamette University College of Law, a leading scholar in criminal law and procedure takes us on a journey deep into the weeds of the errors at the heart o ..read more

This is the story of the wrongful conviction of Brendan Dassey. Confined to a system that provides little more than a modicum of due process for the children caught in the ebb and flow of flawed investigations, judicial ignorance, and spurious interrogation techniques, Brendan readies himself for his 15th year of wrongful incarceration as COVID-19 becomes another prong to the cruel and unusual punishment he continues to endure. Join me for season two where once again I step back in time to explore and revisit the influences at the heart of this profound miscarriage of justice ..read more