Photo: EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP / Getty Images
The Supreme Court has reinstated the conviction of Pedro Hernandez for the 1979 kidnapping and murder of six-year-old Etan Patz in New York City. On Monday (June 22), the justices voted six to three to overturn a lower court decision that would have required a new trial for Hernandez, siding with New York prosecutors who argued that the earlier ruling was not justified.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit had previously thrown out Hernandez’s conviction because of how the trial judge answered a question from jurors about the suspect’s confession. Hernandez had confessed to the crime, but his lawyers argued that he falsely admitted guilt due to mental illness and stressful police interrogation.
The Supreme Court’s unsigned opinion stated that federal courts should not second-guess state courts unless there is a clear violation of federal law. The justices noted that the rule cited by the appeals court did not apply to jury deliberations about confessions already admitted into evidence. As reported by SCOTUSblog, the court emphasized that there was no established federal requirement for the trial judge to give a specific instruction to the jury about disregarding confessions made before a suspect receives a Miranda warning.
Hernandez, now 64, is serving a sentence of twenty-five years to life. 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’s attorneys expressed disappointment and insisted, “We firmly believe that an innocent man is in jail for a crime that he did not commit.”
Etan Patz disappeared while walking to his school bus stop in Manhattan in 1979. The case was one of the first to feature a missing child on milk cartons and led to the creation of National Missing Children’s Day. Hernandez worked at a nearby shop but did not become a suspect until 2012. After a mistrial in his first trial, he was convicted in a 2017 retrial, largely based on his recorded confessions.
The Supreme Court’s decision means Hernandez’s conviction stands, and there will be no new trial.