The man convicted of killing Etan Patz in 1979 has been granted a new trial after a federal appeals court overturned his conviction due to errors in the jury instructions during his 2017 trial.
Pedro Hernandez, who has served 25 years to life in prison for the 1979 murder of 6-year-old Etan Patz, was awarded a new trial on Monday. A federal appeals court overturned his 2017 conviction, citing a flawed jury instruction as "clearly wrong" and "manifestly prejudicial." Hernandez's first trial in 2015 ended in a hung jury. The appeals court ordered his release unless a new trial begins within a reasonable time frame. The Manhattan District Attorney's office is reviewing the decision. The case, one of the nation's most notorious missing child cases, involved a decades-long search for answers. Etan's disappearance on the first day he walked alone to his school bus stop in 1979 sparked a national outcry and led to increased awareness of missing children. His image appeared on milk cartons, and his case helped establish a national missing-children hotline. Hernandez, a teenager working near Etan at the time, confessed to luring Etan into a basement and choking him. His lawyers argued his confession was false due to mental illness and a low IQ. The appeals court focused on the judge's response to a jury note about the admissibility of Hernandez's confession, stating the jury should have received a more thorough explanation of their options regarding the confession's validity. The case involved a lengthy police interrogation before Hernandez was read his Miranda rights.
