The US supreme court has reinstated a murder conviction in the long winding case of Etan Patz, whose 1979 disappearance at age six from New York City garnered national headlines.
In a 6-3 decision on Monday, the supreme court agreed with New York prosecutors in their request to reverse a lower court ruling that had thrown out the murder conviction of Pedro Hernandez, 64, in the Patz case.
Hernandez was convicted in 2017 of kidnapping and murdering Patz in New York state court, and he subsequently received a prison sentence of 25 years to life. Patz disappeared on 25 May 1979 while walking to a school bus stop in Manhattan’s SoHo – meaning South of Houston Street – neighborhood.
Although Patz’s body was never found, investigators identified Hernandez as a suspect in 2012. At the time of the child’s disappearance, Hernandez worked at a convenience store near the boy’s bus stop.
The second circuit US court of appeals in July overturned Hernandez’s conviction after it found that the judge presiding over the murder trial had given a “clearly wrong” and “manifestly prejudicial” response to a key jury question.
Jurors had asked whether they must disregard Hernandez’s later confessions if they found that an earlier one, made before he was advised of his rights, was involuntary. The judge replied that “the answer is no.”
According to the appeals court, jurors should have received a fuller explanation. However, the US supreme court disagreed on Monday, saying in a ruling: “The second circuit exceeded its authority in holding that Hernandez is entitled to relief.”
The supreme court’s ruling added: “The panel’s opinion appears to reflect serious doubt about the reliability of Hernandez’s confessions, but [federal law] does not allow a federal habeas court to disturb a state-court conviction based on such an evaluation of the evidence.”
In response to the ruling, Hernandez’s lawyers said they were “terribly disappointed”, according to the Associated Press. “We firmly believe that an innocent man is in jail for a crime that he did not commit,” they told the outlet.
Hernandez’s lawyers argued that their client’s confession was false, saying he suffered from mental illness and was questioned by police for about seven hours before being read his Miranda rights.
In his confession, Hernandez said he lured Patz into the basement of the convenience store that he worked at, strangled him and then discarded his body in an alley.
Meanwhile, the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, praised the decision, saying, “This office has remained steadfast in its pursuit of justice for Etan and the Patz family and will continue to stand by this important conviction.”
Hernandez was first tried in 2015, but the case ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
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