Brendan Dassey has been ordered to stay in prison while he awaits the outcome of a pending appeal, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.

The court granted the state's emergency motion to block Dassey's release, filed Wednesday. Another judge had ruled Monday that Dassey should be released while the appeal is settled. The state appealed that ruling, which was overturned. That's when the state then appealed again to the 7th Circuit.

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Earlier this year, a judge ruled that Dassey's conviction should be thrown out. The state has appealed that ruling, and Dassey's conviction could be reinstated by the state either winning that appeal or taking the case to a full retrial.

Dassey was convicted of several crimes in 2007 in connection with Halbach's death, including being party to first-degree intentional homicide, mutilation of a corpse, as well as second-degree sexual assault.
His attorneys have argued their client's confession was unconstitutionally coerced.