Brandon Dassey’s lawyer, “Smilin’ Jack” (I forget his last name ... Kachinksky?) the public defender before the trial really `phoned it in’ as far as I saw.
He let his client be interrogated alone, failing to appear to defend him, and amazingly let his investigator work Brandon over. appearing to want to lock him in to testimony that hurt him.
He owed zealous representation to his client, but it seemed to me he just wanted to get Brandon to plea bargain so he could close his file.
Both defendants seemed to act as though they had not been Mirandized. I’m surprised the PD wasn’t disciplined by the Wisconsin state bar association. Maybe he was going for an ‘incompetent lawyer’ appeal defense? That’s crazy. Anyway it was really difficult to watch.
Avery’s trial attorneys OTOH were very good. I was astonished to hear the verdict on the first count, but wasn’t surprised to then hear that the jurors were anxious to convict and go home.
Later, while on the stand, the investigator broke down in tears as the defense read an email that he wrote calling the family names and extolling the virtues of chopping down the Avery family tree!