The Conspirator: High Crimes and Misdemeanours

SIXTH HOUR: The Wrongful Conviction of Brendan Dassey

“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 Impairments, and Judicial Ignorance to discuss the indefensible misconduct of Len Kachinsky and how Miranda intersects with juveniles with speech and language impairments like Brendan Dassey.

To read the analysis: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3379727