Dassey v. Dittmann

• Decision Date: 12 August 2016
• Docket Number: Case No. 14-CV-1310
• Citation: 201 F.Supp.3d 963
• Parties: Brendan DASSEY, Petitioner, v. Michael A. Dittmann, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Wisconsin

201 F.Supp.3d 963

Brendan DASSEY, Petitioner,

v.Michael A. Dittmann,¹ Respondent.

Case No. 14-CV-1310

United States District Court, E.D. Wisconsin.

Signed August 12, 2016

Robert J. Dvorak, Halling & Cayo SC, Milwaukee, WI, Laura H. Nirider, Northwestern University School of Law, Bluhm Clinic, Chicago, IL, for Petitioner.

Jacob J. Wittwer, Warren D. Weinstein, Wisconsin Department of Justice, Madison, WI, for Respondent.

DECISION AND ORDER

WILLIAM E. DUFFIN, U.S. Magistrate Judge

I. Facts and Procedural History

A. The Initial Investigation

Teresa Halbach, the oldest daughter of northeastern Wisconsin dairy farmers, graduated summa cum laude from the University of Wisconsin—Green Bay in 2002. By the time she was 25-years-old she was running her own photography business. Halbach's family and friends became concerned in early November 2005 after she had not been seen or heard from for a few days. Uncharacteristically she had not stopped by her photography studio and her voicemail was full. Family, friends, and law enforcement distributed thousands of missing person posters, scoured roadside ditches in case she had had an accident, and retraced her last known activities. Searchers learned that Halbach had been photographing vehicles for Auto Trader Magazine on October 31, 2005. After photographing vehicles at two residences that day, Halbach was scheduled to photograph a minivan that was for sale at the Avery Salvage Yard. Halbach had not been seen or heard from since.

On Saturday, November 5, 2005, volunteer searchers, with the permission of the owners of the property, undertook a search of the Avery Salvage Yard. The salvage yard property was expansive, spanning 40 acres and containing roughly 4,000 vehicles. Amidst the thousands of salvaged vehicles, partially covered by tree branches, fence posts, boxes, plywood, and auto parts, a pair of searchers found Halbach's 1999 Toyota RAV4.

As a result of this discovery, investigators obtained a search warrant for the entire salvage yard property, which encompassed roughly fifteen buildings and included residences of various members of the extended Avery family, garages, and other outbuildings. The search was extensive, involving many different agencies, dozens of law enforcement personnel, and dozens more volunteer firefighters, along with dive teams for the ponds and dogs trained to detect blood and human remains. The search lasted a week and covered not only all of the buildings but also each of the 4,000 salvaged vehicles, some of which had been crushed and required specialized equipment to inspect.

Steven Avery, a son of the owners of the salvage yard, lived in a residence on the property. Investigators recovered two firearms from a gun rack above Avery's bed and a key to Halbach's RAV4, found in Avery's bedroom. In a burn barrel and a roughly four-foot by six-foot burn pit near Avery's residence, investigators located charred human bone and tooth fragments. Also recovered from the burn areas were the burned remnants of electronics, a zipper, and rivets from a woman's jeans. In a vehicle in the salvage yard a searcher found the license plates that had been on Halbach's RAV4.

Subsequent investigation determined that the recovered human remains were those of an adult female who was no more than 30-years-old. Analysis of the skull fragments determined that she had been shot twice in the head. DNA testing of tissue remaining on one of the bone fragments was consistent with Halbach's DNA profile, with the chance that the DNA was from a source other than Halbach being one in a billion.

Additionally, investigators determined that the burned electronics were from a mobile phone, personal organizer, and digital camera of the same makes and models that Halbach was known to have owned. Halbach was seen wearing jeans shortly before she arrived at the Avery property on October 31, and the rivets recovered from the burn area were from jeans of the same brand Halbach was known to own. Multiple witnesses reported seeing a large bonfire in the burn pit outside Avery's residence on October 31.

Forensic examination of Halbach's RAV4 revealed multiple blood stains. A roughly six-inch blood stain in the rear cargo area by the wheel well displayed a pattern consistent with having been the result of bloody hair. The DNA profile developed from this stain and others in the cargo area, including along the plastic threshold to the cargo area, the door to the cargo area, and a metal piece along the opening of the cargo area, was identified as being that of Halbach.

Other small blood stains in the passenger compartment of Halbach's RAV4, just to the right of the ignition, on a CD case, on a metal panel between the rear seats and the vehicle cargo area, on the driver's seat, on the front passenger's seat, and on the floor by the center console all matched Steven Avery's DNA. Avery's DNA was also detected on the hood latch of Halbach's RAV4 and on the key to the RAV4 that was found in Avery's bedroom.

Investigators learned that Halbach had taken photographs at the Avery property on five prior occasions. Avery called Auto Trader on the morning of October 31, 2005, and requested that "the same girl who had been out here before" come and take pictures of a vehicle that was for sale. Just before 2:30 p.m., Halbach contacted Auto Trader and said that she was on her way to the Avery property. At roughly 2:30 or 2:45 p.m., a neighbor of Avery's saw Halbach photographing a minivan and then go to Avery's residence. The neighbor left home at about 3:00 p.m. and observed Halbach's RAV4 still outside Avery's residence but did not see Halbach. When he returned home at about 5:00 p.m. Halbach's RAV4 was no longer there.

Avery was arrested and charged with Halbach's murder.

B. The Investigation of Brendan Dassey

The investigation regarding Avery continued as he awaited trial. On February 20, 2006, investigators interviewed Kayla Avery, Steven Avery's teenage niece. Although the interview focused on information related to Steven Avery, at the end of the interview Kayla stated that her cousin, Brendan Dassey, had been "acting up lately." When asked to explain, Kayla stated that Dassey would stare into space and start crying uncontrollably, and that he had lost roughly 40 pounds recently.

Based on this information from Kayla, and because a witness reported seeing Dassey at the bonfire with Avery around 7:30 or 7:45 on the evening of October 31, investigators decided that they needed to re-interview Dassey. Dassey, like Avery's other relatives, had been questioned earlier in the investigation. Dassey was 16 years old and, aside from this investigation, had never had any contacts with law enforcement. (ECF Nos. 19–12 at 60; 19-13 at 4.) He was described as a "very shy boy" who "doesn't say too much." (ECF No. 19-12 at 67.) In school, he typically followed rules and did not get into trouble. (ECF No. 19-12 at 94.) He also suffered from certain intellectual deficits. His IQ was assessed as being in the low average to borderline range. (ECF No. 19-22 at 46-49.) He was a "slow learner" with "really, really bad" grades. (ECF No. 19-12 at 66.) Specifically, he had difficulty understanding some aspects of language and expressing himself verbally. (ECF No. 19-12 at 90.) He also had difficulties in the "social aspects of communication" such as "understanding and using nonverbal cues, facial expressions, eye contact, body language, tone of voice." (ECF No. 19-12 at 91.) Testing also revealed that he was extreme when it came to social introversion, social alienation, and especially social avoidance. (ECF No. 19-22 at 34-35.) As a result, he received special education services at school. (ECF No. 19-13 at 3.)

Calumet County Sheriff's Investigator Mark Wiegert and Wisconsin Department of Justice Special Agent Tom Fassbender met with Dassey on February 27, 2006, in a conference room at Dassey's high school, where they spoke for about an hour. After the interview, Wiegert and Fassbender contacted the prosecuting attorney, who requested that they create a better record of the interview than the poor-quality audio cassette recording they had. They made arrangements to interview Dassey again later that same day at a local police station that was equipped with video recording equipment.

Wiegert and Fassbender contacted Dassey's mother, Barb Janda, who went to the school. She and Dassey then went with the officers to the police station. According to Wiegert and Fassbender, Janda declined their offer to be present for the interview and instead remained in the waiting area of the police station. (ECF No. 19-19 at 7.) According to Janda, the investigators discouraged her from joining Dassey for the interview. (ECF No. 19-30 at 155.) During this second February 27 interview, which lasted less than an hour, Dassey acknowledged being present at the October 31, 2005 bonfire with Avery and that he saw body parts in the fire. (ECF No. 19-19 at 8-9.) Fassbender met with Dassey again in the evening on February 27. Dassey told Fassbender that he got bleach on his pants after helping Avery clean the floor of Avery's garage on October 31. (ECF No. 19-19 at 10-11.)

Believing that he knew more than what he had thus far told investigators, Wiegert and Fassbender obtained permission from Janda to speak to Dassey again two days later, on March 1, 2006. (ECF Nos. 19–19 at 12; 19-30 at 156.) According to Janda, the investigators never asked her if she wanted to be present for this interview. (ECF No. 19-30 at 156.) The investigators picked Dassey up at his high school in the morning on March 1. After they advised Dassey of his constitutional rights under Miranda , he agreed to speak with them. (ECF Nos. 19–19 at 16; 19-25 at 2.) Wiegert and Fassbender then went with Dassey to his house, located on the Avery family property near Avery's home, where Dassey gave them the bleach-stained jeans he previously mentioned. (ECF No. 19-25 at 3-7.) On the way to the sheriff's department...