The Journey of Brenden Dassey

James Downey

Arizona State University

CRJ 204: Juvenile Justice

April 26, 2022

 The juvenile justice system in the United States is constantly finding ways towards

improving the lives of youth. In the Netflix documentary, Making a Murderer, 16-year-old

Brenden Dassey found himself behind bars for supposedly committing first-degree homicide,

second degree sexual assault and mutilation of the corpse of Theresa Halbach. This was Dassey’s

first offense due to him having no prior legal issues and had no behavioral issues at his high

school. This paper analyzes the Adolescent Development Theory.

“Adolescent Development Theory focuses on the cognitive development and intellectual

functioning of an individual”, specifically a juvenile. In addition, this theory focuses on the

psychological maturity and self-control within this same individual (Fine, Theories, 2022). In

Brenden’s case, even though he was in special education classes and was considered a slow

learner, the courts ruled that irrelevant to the case.

The question is still up in the air in regards to if Brenden actually committed these

crimes. Essentially, he is behind bars due to the fact that he gave a false confession under

pressure. Some factors that contributed to the possibility of his crimes being committed are the

fact that the time of Theresa’s kidnapping was during the immediate hours Brenden would have

returned home from school, anytime after 3pm. After an official press conference, Ken Kratz

announced that Dassey was the juvenile's name and when he began reading the chronological

order of events that took place, he said Brendan returned from school at 3:45 pm. This is

significant because juveniles tend to commit most crimes during the hours of immediately

getting out of school. Unsupervised time is one of the biggest factors that contributes to gang

involvement among juveniles. Due to the fact that his uncle, Steven Avery, was previously
released due to being convicted for 18 years of a crime that he did not commit, Dassey could

have felt pressure from detectives during interrogation since his lawyer was not present. “No

state guarantees a lawyer for every child during interrogation” (Fine, Final Lecture, 2022). This

is why the detectives were able to trap Brenden, essentially. When it comes to recording

interrogations, “LEAs can implement recording without a legal requirement” (Fine, Police,

2022). Brenden had no idea he was being recorded, especially since he had no lawyer or public

defender present during the time of interrogation. Brenden admitted to something that did not

even happen.

In relation to juvenile courts, Brenden went through the process of his advisory hearing,

detention hearing. Although he originally turned himself in due to the pressures of the secret

bearing on him, he was not caught immediately during or after the act. In fact, Brenden made

these claims about 4 months after the initial crime took place. Dassey was interrogated by police,

without a lawyer present and they never released him after that. He was then staying at the

Sheboygan Juvenile Detention Center. In regards to courts, they wanted Brenden to testify

against his uncle, Steven Avery, in exchange for having charges of false imprisonment and first

degree sexual assault dropped. The plan did not work out and now Brenden ultimately is sitting

behind bars due to a confession of a crime that was understood to be false. He was tried as an

adult, due to the nature of his case, and his intellectual competency was not factored in. Dassey is

now living at the Oshkosh Correctional Institution on charges on first-degree homicide, second

degree sexual assault and mutilation of Theresa Halbach. In regards to juvenile corrections, there

are 2 types of residential options. First, is a detention center which tends to be short-term, houses

youth who are awaiting trial and is typically run by the county and/or state. Secondly, there is a
correctional institution, which tends to be long-term, houses adjudicated offenders and is run by

the state. (Fine, Juvenile Corrections, 2022).

Some ways that the juvenile justice system could have served Brenden in a better fashion

are they could have really taken his intellectual ability into consideration and they would have

gone to a bigger extent to prove that Brenden had nothing to do with Teresa's death.

Furthermore, they could have taken Brenden’s past legal history into consideration and given

him other alternatives, instead of sitting in prison until he is 76 years old. The state of Wisconsin

could not give Brenden a life sentence due to the fact that Miller vs. Alabama makes it where a

juvenile is not allowed to be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, as it is constituted

as cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the 8th Amendment. As previously mentioned,

Dassey was tried as an adult. This crime could have been prevented if Brenden would have

stayed at home right when he returned home from school. Also, the policemen seemed to have

held a grudge towards his uncle, Steven Avery, so they thought Brenden was the ideal scapegoat.

In other words, the police needed someone to point the finger on and having Dassey fake a false

confession only made his situation worse. Lastly, the lawyer’s motion for a fair forensic

examination was opposed, meaning nobody could observe the testing of Theresa's DNA so

people were wondering if it could have been swabbed there by someone else. The main

explanation was because they thought the person being present could contaminate the evidence

by extracting their own DNA, which is exactly what happened with the initial lady who was

testing it.
 A primary takeaway from this case about Brenden Dassey’s adventure through the

juvenile justice system is that the courts will make anyone do adult time for an adult crime. In

addition, not everyone is invincible and receives a get-out-of-jail free card due to their age. In

regards to being a juvenile, it will always be more beneficial in your favor to admit to the charge,

regardless of if you actually did it or not.

 References

Fine, A. (2022). Juvenile Corrections Powerpoint

Fine, A. (2022). Police Powerpoint

Fine, A. (2022) Theories Powerpoint

Fine, A. (2022). Final Lecture Powerpoint