Len Kachinsky
Magistrate Judge Duffin reversed Dassey’s conviction on the suppression issue I litigated before leaving the case. I preserved that issue for appeal so that his future attorneys might raise it like they did. Even though Dassey and I parted ways on how he should proceed, I did my job and enabled Dassey’s future attorneys to do theirs. The next step will probably be up to the 7th Circuit as the State will likely appeal.
— Len Kachinsky, the one-time public defender who represented hit Netflix documentary series “Making a Murderer” subject Brendan Dassey at trial, commenting on his former client’s recently overturned conviction. Kachinsky’s representation of Dassey has been widely criticized, and Judge Duffin went so far as to refer to Kachinsky’s “misconduct” in the Dassey case as “indefensible” in his 91-page decision overturning the conviction.
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In a separate statement, Kachinsky said:
I will not be further involved in Dassey’s case. I have no opinion as to his factual guilt or innocence. I expect the State will appeal. It should be noted that the ground on which the new trial was ordered was Judge Fox’s denial of a motion I filed and litigated to keep Dassey’s March 2006 statement out of evidence. So I did my job and kept Dassey’s option open.
(Flip to the next page to see the decision overturning Brendan Dassey’s conviction.)
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Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.