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No Promises To Brendan Dassey, Lawyer Asks Panel

CHICAGO (AP) -- State attorneys are trying to persuade a panel of federal appellate judges that a Wisconsin inmate featured in the Netflix series "Making a Murderer" was properly convicted.

Brendan Dassey was sentenced to life in 2007 in photographer Teresa Halbach's death two years earlier. Dassey told detectives he helped his uncle, Steven Avery, rape and kill Halbach in Manitowoc County.

A federal magistrate judge overturned Dassey's conviction in August, ruling investigators coerced him into confessing. The state Department of Justice has appealed. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel heard oral arguments in the case Tuesday.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports DOJ's Luke Berg argued detectives never made Dassey any specific promises. Dassey attorney Laura Nirder countered detectives made a "drumbeat" of promises.

(© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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