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Appeals Court Overturns Pedro Hernandez’s Conviction in Etan Patz Case

A three-judge panel ruled that improper jury guidance tainted Hernandez’s conviction; the court ordered a retrial or his release pending Manhattan DA review.

A newspaper with a photograph of Etan Patz is seen on May 28, 2012, at a makeshift memorial in the SoHo neighborhood of New York, where Patz lived before his disappearance on May 25, 1979. Inset: In this Nov. 15, 2012, file photo, Pedro Hernandez appears in Manhattan criminal court in New York.
FILE - A photograph of Etan Patz hangs on an angel figurine, as part of a makeshift memorial in the SoHo neighborhood of New York, May 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
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Overview

  • The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the 2017 verdict against Hernandez in the 1979 disappearance and presumed murder of 6-year-old Etan Patz.
  • Judges found that the state trial court’s instructions on Hernandez’s confessions contradicted federal law and were manifestly prejudicial.
  • Because no physical evidence linked Hernandez to the crime, the original conviction rested entirely on his recorded admissions.
  • The appeals court directed that Hernandez must be retried within a reasonable period or released from custody if prosecutors decline to proceed.
  • The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is now reviewing the decision to decide whether to retry the case or allow Hernandez’s release.