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‘Making a Murderer': Would Brendan Dassey’s Conviction Have Been Overturned Without the Series?
6 hours ago
Following news that U.S. Magistrate Judge William Duffin had overturned the conviction of “Making a Murderer” subject Brendan Dassey, many have praised the Netflix documentary series for its impact on the decision. But legal experts told TheWrap that it is difficult to determine how much of an influence the series and ensuing media coverage had on Friday’s ruling, especially since the habeas petition for Dassey’s case was filed in Sept. 2014 — more than a year before the series debuted. “My experience with federal judges is that they’re very careful about having outside influences affect their decisions,” attorney and Uc Berkeley adjunct law. »
- J. Clara Chan
‘Kubo and the Two Strings’ Review: Laika’s Latest Stuns Visually If Not Narratively
7 hours ago
One of cinema’s first great visionaries was George Méliès, a French magician who, where others saw a passing fad, realized the movie camera’s potential to whisk viewers away to an almost infinite range of wondrous places, from Earth’s uncharted jungles all the way to the moon. George Méliès would have loved “Kubo and the Two Strings.” Set in a fantastical ancient Japan and directed by Travis Knight, “Kubo” follows the titular young boy (voiced by Art Parkinson) on a quest to procure the enchanted armor that is his only protection against the evil Moon King (Ralph Fiennes). It’s a story. »
- Sam Adams
‘Making A Murderer': Brendan Dassey’s Road to Release (Photos)
8 hours ago
Nine months after the release of “Making A Murderer,” Brendan Dassey’s conviction in the rape and murder of Teresa Halbach has been overturned. TheWrap looks back on the 11-year murder case that has captured America’s attention and how Dassey ended up in prison with his uncle, Steven Avery. October 31, 2005: Teresa Halbach, a photographer in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, goes missing after taking pictures of a car at Steven Avery’s salvage yard. The next day, 16-year-old Brendan Dassey is questioned by county investigators. Dassey claims he had no contact with Halbach. February 2006: Detectives Mark Wiegert and Tom Fassbender are told by. »
- Jeremy Fuster
Lawyers: Brendan Dassey of ‘Making a Murderer’ Could Sue for Millions
8 hours ago
Brendan Dassey, the “Making a Murder” subject whose conviction was overturned by a federal judge, could sue police or even his own lawyer for millions of dollars, legal experts say. But winning won’t be easy. “He could sue his lawyer for putting him in the hands of his investigators, who just ripped him a new one,” Steve Cron, a veteran criminal defense attorney and Pepperdine University law professor, told TheWrap. He said Len Kachinsky, Dassey’s original attorney, had committed what amounted to “malpractice.” Asked how much Dassey could stand to make should he sue, Cron said, “What is spending 10 years in prison worth? »
- Itay Hod
‘Making a Murderer’ Filmmakers Respond to Brendan Dassey’s Overturned Conviction
8 hours ago
“Making a Murderer” filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos issued a statement in response to a judge’s ruling that overturned the conviction of Brendan Dassey on Friday. “Today there was a major development for the subjects in our story and this recent news shows the criminal justice system at work,” the duo behind the Netflix docuseries said in a joint statement. “As we have done for the past 10 years, we will continue to document the story as it unfolds, and follow it wherever it may lead.” Netflix announced last month that the popular series will return for a second season, »
- Reid Nakamura
Senior Paramount Executive Dies of Apparent Suicide
8 hours ago
A longtime Paramount Pictures executive is dead of an apparent suicide, TheWrap has learned. David Thornton, 60, was a Senior Vice President in licensing at the studio. He was an 18-year veteran who began his career at Paramount Parks in 1998. Thornton’s body was discovered Wednesday by two hikers on a trail close to his Valencia, California, home, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed in multiple reports. The executive suffered a gunshot wound to the head, and a semi-automatic handgun was found close to his body. Also Read: John Saunders, Longtime Espn Host, Dies at 61 “David was passionate about his work, »
- Matt Donnelly
Tom Hiddleston Wants You to Binge-Watch ‘The Night Manager’ (Video)
8 hours ago
Tom Hiddleston encourages viewers to binge-watch his Emmy-nominated AMC miniseries “The Night Manager,” because that’s how it was designed by director Susanne Bier. “We approached it as one story with its own integrity,” Hiddleston said in an interview with TheWrap Friday. “We boarded all six in the same way you’d board a feature film. It was a 360-page script, and we treated it like a six-hour feature.” The British actor said he appreciates it when fans stop him in the street to tell him how absorbing the TV adaptation of John La Carre’s 1993 crime novel is. “People »
- Reid Nakamura
‘Criminal Minds’ Alum Shemar Moore to Receive More Than $60K From Castmate Who Ripped Him Off
9 hours ago
Shemar Moore is walking into the weekend $60,000 richer. The “Criminal Minds” alum will receive $61,084 following a plea deal from a former castmate who bilked Moore’s charity, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office told TheWrap on Friday. Moore befriended Keith Tisdell after the latter appeared on two episodes of “Criminal Minds” as a character named Rodney Harris. Also Read: Thomas Gibson Responds to 'Criminal Minds' Firing Moore portrayed Derek Morgan on the CBS series from 2005 until earlier this year. Tisdell became involved with Moore’s charity, Baby Girl LLC, but an audit later »
- Tim Kenneally
‘Making a Murderer': How Brendan Dassey’s Judge Agreed With the Filmmakers
9 hours ago
“Making a Murderer” argued that Brendan Dassey was a mentally unfit, easily manipulated 16-year-old when police questioned and misled him, with no attorney present, in an interrogation about whether he took part in the murder of Teresa Halbach. On Friday, a judge agreed with the filmmakers — nine years after Dassey and his uncle, Steven Avery, were convicted in the 25-year-old photographer’s murder. Netflix’s “Making a Murderer” became a phenomenon when it premiered late in 2015 by providing a parallel forum, outside the courtroom, where viewers could debate the case. They tore into details on Reddit, on Twitter, in videos and podcasts. »
- Tim Molloy
‘Making a Murderer': Internet Flips Out Over Brendan Dassey’s Overturned Conviction
9 hours ago
Social media was ablaze Friday after a federal judge overturned Brendan Dassey’s conviction for involvement in the murder of Teresa Halbach. The bombshell was dropped less than a year after Netflix’s “Making a Murderer” documentary series cast a light on what it suggests was a shady investigation by Wisconsin police into Halbach’s murder. Dassey’s conviction came in 2007. Given what a cultural event “Making a Murderer” was, Dassey became a celebrity of sorts, particularly because the teenager’s shy and soft-spoken demeanor endeared him to viewers, making him appear more of a victim of the police and »
- Phil Owen
Why ‘Making a Murderer’ Subject Brendan Dassey’s Homicide Conviction Was Overturned
9 hours ago
“Making a Murderer” subject Brendan Dassey had his conviction overturned by a federal judge on Friday, a surprise ruling that could result in one of the subjects of Netflix’s popular 2015 docuseries going free. Here’s how it happened. In 2014, Dassey’s attorneys filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, leaving it up to a federal judge to decide whether or not Dassey’s arrest and imprisonment were legal under the terms of the Constitution. The legal maneuver followed the state Court of Appeals’ decision to reject »
- Reid Nakamura
‘Making a Murderer': Steven Avery’s Lawyer Cheers Brendan Dassey’s Legal Victory
9 hours ago
Steven Avery’s attorney, Kathleen Zellner, cheered a judge’s decision on Friday to overturn the conviction of Avery’s nephew Brendan Dassey, saying Dassey’s confession was “fabricated.” “Justice for Brendan as another Le fabricated confession bites the dust. Convicting the innocent foiled by unbiased court,” Kathleen Zellner, who took on Avery as a client earlier this year, tweeted Friday. Moments earlier, U.S. Magistrate Judge William E. Duffin granted Dassey’s writ of habeas corpus, finding that his confession at age 16 while suffering “from certain intellectual deficits” at the time of his questioning, was involuntary. Also Read: ' »
- Tim Kenneally
‘Making a Murderer': 8 Alternate Theories on Who Killed Teresa Halbach (Photos)
10 hours ago
Since the Netflix documentary series “Making a Murderer” aired last December, many fans have argued that Steven Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey were not guilty in the torture-killing of Teresa Halbach. Prosecutors say there is no question that Avery and Dassey were the sole people responsible. But filmmakers and armchair detectives, among others, have raised counter theories. The doubts about Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey beg the question: If they didn’t kill Halbach, who did? 1. It was Scott Tadych and Bobby Dassey In January, a Reddit user posted a theory he first saw on YouTube, which claims Scott »
- Matt Hejl and Jeremy Fuster
11 TCA Takeaways: Diversity Still Not Diverse Enough, Rape Repulses, Nerds Rule TV
10 hours ago
The Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour officially (and mercifully) ended on Thursday, and media members now find themselves having to locate their own lunch. It was a long two-plus weeks in the Beverly Hilton’s International Ballroom in California, freezing our buns off in the A.C. to bring small-screen news directly to you, the beloved Wrap reader. We also ate all those cookies for you guys too. What can we say? We’re dedicated to our craft. Below are 11 of our takeaways from the Summer TCA — at least, whatever we can remember after the open bars. Also Read: »
- Tony Maglio
Shortlist 2016: First Love Sounds Surprisingly Grown-Up in ‘Slingshot’ (Video)
10 hours ago
Many good stories start in a bar, and Australian filmmaker David Hansen’s short film “Slingshot” — a finalist in TheWrap’s ShortList Film Festival — originated when he observed an English couple at a pub in Spain. “They were maybe mid-50s, late-50s and they just started getting it on like they were in their 20s just pashing and giggling and getting drunk,” Hansen told TheWrap. “I started spinning this idea in my head of the entire journey of a relationship,” he said, “from a courtship, to one person pursuing the other a little bit more, to a »
- Rasha Ali
Hope Solo Slammed for Calling Swedish Soccer Team ‘Cowards’ After Olympic Loss
10 hours ago
The United States women’s national soccer team got knocked out of the Rio Olympics Friday, and goalkeeper Hope Solo quickly let the world know how unhappy she was about it. The controversial player went on a bitter rant against Sweden’s team after it eliminated the American squad from medals contention. In the quarterfinal match, the two teams played to a 1-1 stalemate over 120 minutes, but Sweden edged the U.S. 4-3 in a shootout — and Solo did not take it well. Also Read: Maksim Chmerkovskiy Rips Former 'DWTS' Partner Hope Solo: She's a 'Sh-ty Person' “I thought »
- Debbie Emery
6 Times Hollywood Shook Up Criminal Justice Before ‘Making a Murderer’
10 hours ago
“Making a Murderer” subject Brendan Dassey had his conviction overturned by a federal judge on Friday. But “Making a Murderer” is not the first time a film or documentary has been a factor in a major legal reversal of fortune. “Gimme Shelter” (1970) A documentary directed by the Maysles brothers, “Gimme Shelter” started out as a simple concert film about The Rolling Stones, but turned out to be essential documentation of the fights and violence that erupted at the Altamont Free Concert. “The Thin Blue Line” (1988) Errol Morris‘ documentary depicted Randall Dale Adams, a man serving life in prison for a murder. »
- Reid Nakamura
New ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ Trailer Was Great, But I’m Still Worried About the Movie (Commentary)
12 hours ago
“Suicide Squad” was the creative disaster it was because, according to reports on TheWrap and elsewhere, endless reshoots, rewrites and re-edits attempted to fundamentally alter the nature of the beast. It was too dark, so the tone needed to be lightened, and how Warner Bros. went about that resulted in an abomination of a movie. It was so messed up, in fact, that I wrote a column describing how it doesn’t even really function as a movie. In a vacuum, that fiasco doesn’t have anything to do with “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” None of the same corporate overlords are. »
- Phil Owen
‘Making a Murderer': Who Should Star in the Inevitable Movie? (Photos)
12 hours ago
TheWrap casts the roles of Dean Strang, Steven Avery and Ken Kratz if the Netflix series “Making a Murderer” ever became a movie. Pilou Asbaek As Steven Avery The “Game of Thrones” actor’s beard is a perfect fit for the role of Steven Avery. While he hasn’t played a Wisconsinite before — if he can adopt a “Got” accent, he can do anything. Paul Dano As Brendan Dassey The “Love and Mercy” actor, while 15 years older than Dassey was around the time of Teresa Halbach’s murder, is our pick to play Avery’s nephew. In “Prisoners,” Dano plays »
- Beatrice Verhoeven and Matt Hejl
‘Saturday Night Live’ Names New Co-Head Writers
12 hours ago
NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” has promoted Sarah Schneider and Chris Kelly as co-head writers for season 42 of the sketch comedy show, TheWrap has learned. Schneider and Kelly have been responsible for some of the show’s most recently popular sketches, such as “Bern Your Enthusiasm,” featuring Larry David as Bernie Sanders, “Bar Talk” with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, “The Beygency,” “Back Home Ballers,” and the Emmy-nominated “(Do It On My) Twin Bed.” NBC declined to comment on whether or not Rob Klein and Bryan Tucker, the co-head writers for season 41, have been ousted and if replacements for Schneider and Kelly on the writing. »
- J. Clara Chan
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