EXCLUSIVE: ‘Making a Murderer’ lawyer-turned-judge, who was blamed for client Brendan Dassey’s life sentence and now faces jail time for harassing his court clerk, claims his toy cat was the culprit
- Len Kachinsky had pressured Brendan Dassey, then 16, to confess to helping uncle Steven Avery in the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach in Two Rivers, Wisconsin
- ‘Making a Murderer Part Two’ showed Kachinsky leaving Dassey alone to be interrogated by police while he carried out duties in the Wisconsin Army Reserve
- Kachinsky became a municipal judge in Fox Crossing, Wisconsin but the female clerk of court filed a restraining order against him for year-long harassment
- She claimed the married father of two came into her office, making cat noises and staring at her for 40 minutes
- Kachinsky ordered her reprimanded for not thanking him for a facebook post where he praised her work and for wishing her Christmas greetings
- The clerk said in the complaint: ‘I have become so fearful of him that I am constantly looking over my shoulder to see if the Judge is around’
- He was arrested and spent a night in Winnebago County Jail in Wisconsin for breaking the order. His trial for felony stalking is set for December 6
- In exclusive interview with DailyMail.com Kachinsky, 65, blamed the cat noises on a toy cat called ‘Jag’ and said ‘it was hardly any type of advance on her’
The ‘Making a Murderer’ lawyer blamed for letting his client Brendan Dassey get a life sentence for murder, faces five years in jail if convicted for stalking the clerk of his court, DailyMail.com can reveal.
In an exclusive interview, 65-year-old Len Kachinsky, whose two-day trial begins on December 6, said he regrets how he represented Dassey but still thinks the trials for his client and Steven Avery were well-handled and, bizarrely, partly blames his own current stalking and harassment charges on a toy cat called ‘Jag’.
‘Making a Murderer Part Two’ debuted on Netflix last Friday and showed how Kachinsky pressured client Dassey, then 16, to confess to helping his uncle Steven Avery in the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.
Kachinsky then left Dassey alone to be interrogated by police while he carried out duties for the Wisconsin Army Reserve where he was a lieutenant colonel.
Len Kachinsky (above) in his judicial robes at Fox Crossing Municipal Court, Wisconsin
Len Kachinsky (above left) was arrested and taken to Winnebago County Jail, Wisconsin this year for breaking a harrasment order. In 2005, he advised client Brendan Dassey (above right) to confess to helping Dassey’s uncle Steven Avery murder Teresa Halbach in Two Rivers, Wisconsin
Dassey’s conviction was overturned in August 2016 by federal magistrate William Duffin who explained Dassey’s constitutional rights were violated and Dassey should be freed pending an appeal, citing Kachinsky’s conduct as ‘indefensible’.
Duffin said: ‘Kachinsky’s conduct was inexcusable both tactically and ethically. It is one thing for an attorney to point out to a client how deep of a hole the client is in. But to assist the prosecution in digging that hole deeper is an affront to the principles of justice that underlie a defense attorney’s vital role in the adversarial system.’
Dassey’s release was immediately blocked by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and in December 2017 his original conviction was upheld.
Last June the US Supreme Court refused to hear any further appeal.
Kachinsky became a municipal judge in Fox Crossing, Wisconsin, and is now on trial for stalking the clerk of his court as well as two counts of violating a harassment restraining order.
In the criminal complaint filed by Winnebago County district attorney Christian Gossett, the court clerk claimed Kachinsky had spent a year harassing her, beginning in April 2017.
Cat lover Len Kachinsky (above) said the clerk of the court in Fox Crossing, Wisconsin who filed the restraining order against him claimed he made cat noises at her. He said: ‘Regarding cat sounds I think she was talking about a toy cat that I had in the office. I love cats.’
She said this included Kachinsky coming into her office, making cat noises and staring at her for 40 minutes. Kachinsky also asked her to join in photos with his daughter and then followed her relatives’ locations on facebook.
In May 2017, she complained to officials who told Kachinsky to stop harassing the clerk and that a third person must be present whenever he met her for work duties.
The clerk said in the complaint: ‘I have become so fearful of him that I am constantly looking over my shoulder to see if the Judge is around.’
In November 2017, Kachinsky sent an email complaining of ‘continued surveillance by the administration’ and warned her he would bring ‘fire and fury’ to the municipal building.
Len Kachinsky sent DailyMail.com the above photo of his toy cat ‘Jag’. He partly blames the meowing sound it makes for his court clerk accusing him of harassment
Police Chief Tim Seaver interviewed Kachinsky over the email. Kachinsky said he was referring to a civil action he was filing to stop the order of needing a third person present.
He promised Seaver he had no weaponry but if he did ‘you would have something’.
In December 2017, Kachinsky asked the clerk to be reprimanded for not expressing enough gratitude over him praising her on facebook, sweeping snow off her car and for wishing her Christmas greetings.
The clerk obtained a restraining order against him in June. It banned Kachinsky from having contact with her other than for work-related issues and barred him from contacting her family.
On July 2 this year, Kachinsky, married with a son and daughter, was arrested for breaking the order by again sending the clerk personal emails.
Len Kachinsky thinks Steven Avery (above) has ‘less than 10 per cent’ chance of being freed on appeal for the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach
He spent the night at Winnebago County Jail and was released the following morning.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended him from the bench following his arrest.
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Kachinsky, said he wanted to clarify why the clerk thought she heard him making cat sounds at her while he stayed in her office.
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Speaking at an animal shelter close to his home in Neenah, Wisconsin, Kachinsky said: ‘The truth about all of this will come out in court.
‘Regarding cat sounds I think she was talking about a toy cat that I had in the office. It’s called ‘Jag’ after the Judge Advocate General. I love cats. I’m playing with my feline friends now. I’m a cat socializer.
‘Sometimes I’d have that toy in the office. That is what she may have heard. It’s a white and brown toy cat I purchased when I was in Charlottesville, Virginia when I was there once to run a marathon with my daughter Noelle.
Attorney Len Kachinsky said after seeing the police interview of his client Brendan Dassey (above) he would have canceled it when he realized Dassey was not being co-operative
‘The cat meows when it’s squeezed. But it’s nothing frightening. It would make most people laugh. I don’t know if we will be bringing it in as an exhibit yet.
‘The reason I was in the office with her for so long was because when you want to observe how an employee deals with customer service you have to wait for a customer to come in. See how they handle it. That’s why I would be there.
‘I took along something to read or would go through my facebook page. I would go there for short periods of time to check on her general attitude. It’s what any good supervisor does.
‘The cat noise was hardly any type of advance upon her. Or a threat, it wasn’t a hissing cat. It could be a little weird but nothing frightening.
‘Some people regard cat noises as obnoxious in the same way they regard whistling as obnoxious.’
Regardhing his defense of Dassey, Kachinsky told DailyMail.com he blamed not being present for the police interview with his client on Dassey himself and private investigator Bill O’Kelly who was working for him.
Kachinsky said: ‘The night before Dassey did the interview, O’Kelly told me Dassey was keen to help the police. I’d also spoken with Dassey and he’d said, ‘I don’t want to delay it, let’s do this!’
Len Kachinsky said he only allowed police to interview Brendan Dassey (above left) because private investigator Bill O’Kelly (above right) promised to be present and Dassey had said he was happy to talk. Dassey told Kachinsky: ‘I don’t want to delay it, let’s do this!’
‘I wasn’t going to be able to attend because I had to be in Milwaukee, writing efficiency reports for the US Army Reserve where I was the legal services team leader. My army duty came first.
‘But, again, I thought everything was fine with Dassey and the investigator was going to keep an eye on things and call me with updates. He wasn’t present and never phoned.
‘When I later saw the interview it was obvious Dassey was reluctant to provide information. If I’d been present I would have called the whole thing off. In hindsight I should have told the police, ‘We’re going to delay this whether you like it or not.’
Kachinsky added: ‘I don’t know if Dassey is an innocent man or not. That’s for God to decide. I never judge my clients. I just judge whether they are treated fairly by the system. Whether it’s been proved by lawful means.
‘He had the benefit of appeal by numerous courts, some of whom have agreed with him. Some haven’t. I think he got due process, in spite of any mistakes made by me or other attorneys on the way. Dassey testified on his own behalf. The jury was able to make its own decision.’
Attorney Len Kachinsky said he has blocked Steven Avery (above) out of his mind and refuses to watch ‘Making a Murderer’, which Netflix released the second season of on October 19
Kachinsky believes Avery will never be freed despite now being represented by Kathleen Zellner, a Chicago-based attorney who has overturned 19 wrongful convictions.
He told DailyMail.com: ‘Kathleen Zellner has a good record but I thought the police protocols were by and large followed. I’d say the odds on Avery ever seeing the light of day are very low. Below 10 per cent.
‘I block Avery out of my mind. I think during the course of the case, Avery intimidated Dassey. Avery made a statement to the media, while he and Dassey were in jail, saying Dassey wouldn’t be real smart if he testified against him, or something to that effect. I took that as a subtle threat. Why he did that, I guess people have to decide.
Kachinsky has no intention of watching ‘Making a Murderer’. He said, ‘I had leukemia and the first season of ‘Making a Murderer’ came out after I’d been hospitalized for seven weeks. That was kind of a bummer.
‘I was getting calls day and night on my phone and just torrents of hate messages and tweets. They still occasionally come but not too often. I’m good now. I need to gain about 15 pounds, a problem many people would love to have.’
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