by Arturo Iglesias in Crime

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.