'Making a Murderer' Brendan Dassey will not be immediately released, court rules

MADISON, Wis. -- (WGN) -- A federal appeals court has refused to immediately release a Wisconsin inmate featured in the Netflix series “Making a Murderer” while the state fights the reversal of his conviction.

A federal judge in August overturned Brendan Dassey's conviction in the 2005 death of photographer Teresa Halbach. The judge ruled Dassey's confession was improperly obtained by detectives who took advantage of his age and mental deficiencies.

That ruling was upheld last week by a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The panel also ordered Dassey to be released if state attorneys decided not to retry him within 90 days.

Dassey's attorneys sought his immediate release, but the 7th Circuit turned down that request Wednesday.

State attorneys argued Dassey should remain behind bars while they appeal.