Anatomy of a False Confession: The Interrogation and Conviction of Brendan Dassey

I think everyone has watched or heard of the series "Making a Murderer" that Netflix released in 2015. Steven Avery had been released from prison after severing quite a bit of time for a crime that he supposedly didn't commit. He was waiting for a big payday from the county and city that he was previously arrested in.Then on October 31, 2005, Teresa Halbach went out to his families salvage yard to take some photos of a vehicle to list in the "Auto Trader" and was never seen from again. We all know what supposedly happened to her but who was the real killer?I believe there are clans like the Avery's in a lot of rural towns and on the outskirts of the cities. They all pretty much stay to themselves and they have their share of troubles, domestic violence, etc. They are normally on government assistance, undereducated and when something happens the other folks around tend to point blame their way. They barely skate by financially, but just because of their standing in the community trouble finds them or they find trouble it's hard to say.That said, what happened to Brendan Dassy who happened to be the nephew of Steven Avery is a complete miscarriage of justice. I admit I was losing my mind when I first starting reading this book, I didn't know if I was going to be able to finish it because of the role-playing and false promises that started with the first interviewers O'Neill and Baldwin who interviewed him from the back seat of a patrol car after they apprehended him while getting off the school bus to walk home. Then on to Wiegert and Fassbender's unlawful interrogation of young Dassy at his high school. I found myself getting so keyed up that I would have probably admitted to being involved. They badgered him for hours and made promises that they had no intention of keeping. You are not allowed to interrogate a minor without a parent present at any time. That is the fastest way to get a case thrown out in my jurisdiction, you can not even ask them a question in any official capacity. But these guys just kept at him until I wanted to toss my Kindle out the window, I think if they accused him of being Spiderman he would have agreed to it.I could go on and on about what all was wrong with what they did to this young man. He may not have been the sharpest knife in the drawer but he was definitely trying to please these investigators. They definitely used that to their advantage. Which is the lowest of the lot, the poor boy didn't have a chance.I was appalled that they kept asking him if he wanted a soda or something to eat during while dogpiling him. I was even more outraged when I read why they kept doing that, it's unbelievable. They have his mother come to the station and he confesses that he had indeed done the most horrific acts that can be done to a woman alongside his uncle Steve. I'll be damned if they didn't offer her sandwich when she's leaving the station. ARG!!! Her answer is no thank you, I've lost my appetite. I could just picture one of those guys sputtering his offer to her while one of his cheeks are bulging out like hamsters crammed full of half of a ham sandwich.I have to admit I've never heard of some of these tactics that this writer brings forth. I've set in many interviews I've dealt with adults never young people, we had a card that we had to pull out and read from when issuing the Miranda Warning even if we knew it by heart. It's called covering all the bases.This is a great read for anyone who is interested in the legal process, I hope that the changes that the author writes about will help stop a lot of these false confessions. It may be too late to help some but let's hope that in the future these "get this case closed" group of investigators and prosecutors curb that attitude. It's so unfair, if you are poor, uneducated then oh, well, let's get you a public defender who has a caseload of 500 and see when he can fit you into his schedule!!! I personally do not see how those investigator's sleep at night. I couldn't sleep well after I read this book. I had to wait until I could regroup to write this review without giving too much away.Disclosure: I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this e-galley in exchange for my honest opinion, the opinions expressed above are my own.

Very interesting read to say the least. I didn't feel like i got any new information on the Dassey case, but it did really shed light on false confessions in general. I would recommend to anyone that isn't sure what a false confession looks like or how it's even possible, they will be enlightened for sure.