The Supreme Court says it will not hear the case of Brendan Dassey, a subject of the Netflix series "Making a Murderer." Dassey is serving a life sentence after he confessed to helping his uncle, Steven Avery, rape and murder a woman when he was 16. Dassey is now 28.
Dassey's lawyers say his confession was coerced by police during a 48-hour period in which Dassey was interrogated four times.
The high court defended Dassey's conviction Monday. A federal appeals court also took that stance in December, saying, "Dassey spoke with the interrogators freely, after receiving and understanding Miranda warnings, and with his mother's consent."
Wisconsin lawyers told the Supreme Court the police used "standard interrogation techniques" and never raised their voices.
But the Netflix series suggests police gave Dassey details of the murder that he didn't know. His lawyers say the officers fed him the "right" answers with promises he would be set free. Court documents state Dassey was so unaware of his situation that he asked if he could return to school after his confession.
Critics of the ruling also say Dassey's intellectual disability was exploited. A dissenting judge in December's ruling said: "What occurred here was the interrogation of an intellectually impaired juvenile."
The Supreme Court will typically uphold a lower court ruling unless it finds that ruling to be unreasonable. Dassey's lawyers say they'll continue to fight to free him.
