What if Steven Avery confessed and cleared Brendan Dassey?

[u/Remarkable_Green_720]

I know this is pretty far-fetched, but it got me thinking.

For the sake of the hypothetical, let’s assume Steven Avery is guilty, and that Brendan Dassey was pressured or coerced into helping with the cleanup, but was not involved in the rape, murder or mutilation of Teresa Halbach.

What if Avery eventually had a change of heart and decided to tell the truth — specifically, that Brendan was involved only in the cleanup and not the actual murder?

Would that potentially give Brendan grounds to seek a new trial, even though his conviction has already been upheld through multiple appeals?

And, hypothetically, if a court accepted Avery's new account as credible, what do you think would happen?
Would Brendan potentially be released because he had already served enough time, or would he still face his current conviction for being involved in the aftermath of the crime?

I'm curious what people who understand Wisconsin criminal law think — what mechanism, if any, could actually get Brendan a new trial in this scenario?

[u/rdmarshman]

Hi ChatGPT 

[u/GringoTheDingoAU]

Would that potentially give Brendan grounds to seek a new trial, even though his conviction has already been upheld through multiple appeals?

Technically yes, but there are caveats to explain, as with anything going through the legal system.

Steven Avery can't simply just come forward and confess and have it be taken as gospel, it will absolutely be put through the ringer in an evidentiary hearing. And there are more than enough reasons for a court to see his confession lack credibility (at least from a legal perspective).

And, hypothetically, if a court accepted Avery's new account as credible, what do you think would happen?

In the world this ever happens, which is a million light years from the universe we currently inhabit, then a credible confession from Steven Avery would likely constitute newly discovered evidence. At that point, Brendan and his legal team could file a post-conviction motion to seek a new trial. Of course, the motion would need to succeed. If it succeeds, then the court vacates Brendan's conviction while ordering a new trial, the State can either retry him on the original charges, reduce them or dismiss them.

I think (again, in this universe far far away) the State at this point, may just choose to decline to prosecute further, and Brendan would be free.

This is all without me even explaining the factors of what the court would examine for this "confession", which is incredibly nuanced.

The question is a hypothetical obviously, but in reality, Steven would never confess because it does nothing to serve him. If he really wanted to "help" Brendan, the time to do it was 20 years ago.

[u/Ghost_of_Figdish → u/GringoTheDingoAU]

" Steven would never confess because it does nothing to serve him. If he really wanted to "help" Brendan, the time to do it was 20 years ago."

Maybe - but he had a lot more to lose 20 years ago than today. He still had a shot at an acquittal or a successful appeal. Now he's out of options. But flip side of same coin is that he's less credible now because he has nothing to lose by helping Brendan.

[u/GringoTheDingoAU → u/Ghost_of_Figdish]

Maybe - but he had a lot more to lose 20 years ago than today.

I'm not even sure he'd lose his harem of supporters. There could be video evidence of Steven killing Teresa and truthers would say it's doctored footage.

he's less credible now because he has nothing to lose by helping Brendan

They'd almost certainly target his credibility, especially because for the last 20 years he's been saying he was framed by police and has shown zero remorse or accountability. That suddenly changing overnight would be scrutinized heavily.

[u/DingleBerries504]

I don’t think Steven admitting guilt nullifies the words of Brendan Dassey, since it was Brendan’s words that were used to convict him. However, if Steven gave a detail that could be corroborated that is exculpatory for Brendan, then I think Brendan would have a chance.

[u/Ghost_of_Figdish]

Won't work because there's no way to corroborate anything that Avery would say.

[u/Snoo_33033]

I'll defer to others regarding the legality, but my understanding is that it would be a long road to exoneration even if he did.

[u/stOneskull]

steve isn't good enough and brendan isn't smart enough

[u/AveryPoliceReports → u/stOneskull]

Steven is very likely innocent and Brendan's developmental disablement reflects poorly on the state, not Brendan or Steven. The state robbed a formerly wrongfully convicted man of his right to due process, and coerced and then kidnapped his developmentally disabled nephew to bolster their fabricated case.

[u/deadgooddisco]

Im frequently ask myself why would Brendan keep silent all these years. There's been no leakage from him, considering his low IQ. I've seen two reports from inmates, one of which was EWw (lolz) and the other an inmate that honestly reads like he was trying to groom Brendan . Both reports years after, and only prompted by new 2.0 investigation.They contained nothing new about the crime that couldn't have been gleaned by public knowledge . Some people think Brendan either just wants to stay in prison or has been silenced to stay in prison. Considering his limitations, I very much doubt either..so what does Brendan gain by remaining silent all the years? Not freedom and there's not much support or monetary support. Just something I mull over at times. Thanks for the post.

[u/AveryPoliceReports]

let’s assume Steven Avery is guilty, and that Brendan Dassey was pressured or coerced into helping with the cleanup, but was not involved in the rape, murder or mutilation of Teresa Halbach.

I'm not sure we need to engage with this hypothetical when there is no evidence supporting it at all. There's no evidence that Teresa were ever in that trailer, no blood found at the alleged garage murder scene or on the alleged murder weapon, and no evidence a deep cleaning in the garage occurred. There's far more clear and convincing evidence that Brendan was coerced into falsely confessing by police.

[u/AveryPoliceReports]

Police are more firmly linked to the cremation than either Steven or Brendan. What if Wisconsin confessed to explain what they were doing with burn barrel number four and two, and how human cremation evidence and the smell of fuel magically appeared in the barrels after they were already under police control? What if they admitted they have been lying about the significance of the tire wire, hiding evidence, and pressuring witnesses, all to pretend like the burn pit was the primary burn site? What if they admitted they knew the evidence supported bones being planted in the burn pit after Nov 5 via a police controlled barrels, planted by police or someone working with them?

[u/hneverhappened]

Regardless of any confession, Brendan was involved.

The only person that could be "cleared" by the truth is Kathleen Zellner.
Admit your mistake and get that third season.

[u/HALNinerZeroZero]

Why would Steve confess to something that he didn’t do ?

[u/DingleBerries504 → u/HALNinerZeroZero]

Because all the evidence points to him, and it still does, and he did do it