New trial of a man convicted for killing Etan Patz

The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the man was convicted of the 1979 murder and the murder and disappearance of a six-year-old boy in New York City, should be subject to a new trial or be released.

The disappearance of Etan Patz on his way to the school bus station in Manhattan shocked the city and became one of the most outstanding cases of national missing children in the United States.

Convenience store owner Pedro Hernandez was convicted in 2017 for murder after his first trial in 2015. He admitted to attracting Patz to the basement and attacking him.

Hernandez argued in his appeal that the jury received improper instructions that violated the U.S. Supreme Court precedent and biased his verdict.

“We concluded that the state trial court clearly established federal law, and that this error is not harmless,” the Second Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in its ruling.

A spokesman for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it is reviewing the decision.

The case has plagued investigators for decades after the boy disappeared from near Soho in Manhattan, but he has never been found.

A radical missing person campaign has boys’ faces on milk cartons and posters across the United States. A thorough investigation attracted the FBI and raised new awareness about missing children.

In 2012, authorities asked Hernandez, who told them that he took Patz to the basement and raised it with a drink or soda and then strangled the little boy.

However, the Court of Appeal wrote in its ruling that Hernandez “had a record history of mental illness and a history of low IQ” and “originally confessed after three police officers had a few seven hours of uninquiry.”

After he confessed to the killing of the police, he read Hernandez’s Miranda rights – a constitutionally mandatory warning that states self-crime – and recorded video confessions. He did this again for federal prosecutors.

Prosecutors rely heavily on video confessions in Hernandez’s second trial.

The decision of the Court of Appeal to order a new trial depends on the instructions received by the jury in 2017 regarding these confessions when considering Hernandez’s fate.

In one sentence, the jurors asked the judge to explain whether his later confession should be ignored and whether they found the first one “is not voluntary.”

The state judge replied: “The answer is, no.”

The jury eventually convicted Hernandez on felony murder and kidnapping, but not guilty.

Hernandez argued in his appeal that the instructions were inconsistent with legal precedents and did not fairly prejudice the jury.

The lower court denied his bid, but the federal appeals court eventually supported him in a ruling on Monday.

“We are grateful that the court now gives Pedro a chance to restore life, and I call on the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to abandon these false allegations and focus on the efforts they belong to: finding the people who are truly responsible for the disappearance of Etan Patz.”