Overview
- The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court ordered Hernandez’s release unless a lower court schedules a new trial within a timeframe deemed reasonable
- Judges found that a state trial judge misdirected jurors by improperly answering a note about whether to disregard non-Mirandized statements when weighing later confessions
- Hernandez’s 2017 conviction rested almost entirely on his disputed confessions from a seven-hour interrogation in the absence of physical evidence
- Defense attorneys argued Hernandez’s severe mental illness and low IQ made him prone to false confessions and hallucinations during police questioning
- Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office is reviewing the appeals court ruling to decide whether to pursue a third trial or release Hernandez