In a bid to reverse a recent legal decision, New York City prosecutors have announced their intention to seek intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court in the case concerning the 1979 disappearance of Etan Patz. This development follows a ruling by an appeals court that overturned the murder conviction of Pedro Hernandez in July.
The disclosure came via a court filing from the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which requested that the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals delay enforcing its decision. The former convenience store clerk, Pedro Hernandez, emerged as a suspect more than three decades after the disappearance of the young boy.
The ruling poses “substantial legal questions,” wrote prosecutor Stephen Kress. He confirmed the district attorney’s plans “to seek Supreme Court review.”
In its decision, the three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit ordered Hernandez’s release unless he is retried within a timeframe deemed reasonable.
Kress further requested that the appeals court delay the case’s transfer back to a lower federal judge until the Supreme Court’s deadline on October 20. Should the Supreme Court agree to review the case, setting a new trial date could be postponed indefinitely.
Previously, the 2nd Circuit had granted a 30-day extension to prosecutors, which was set to expire on Sunday. The court has yet to rule on the latest request for more time.
Hernandez, who opposes the prosecution’s request, has already faced trial twice. His 2017 conviction followed a prior jury’s inability to reach a verdict. Now 64, Hernandez is serving a prison sentence of 25 years to life.
Defense attorneys for Hernandez argue that his confession was false, attributing it to a mental illness that sometimes led to hallucinations. They highlight that the confession occurred after seven hours of police questioning without his rights being read or the interview being recorded. Hernandez later repeated his confession on tape multiple times.
The 2nd Circuit appeal centered on the state trial judge’s guidance to the jury regarding the admissibility of Hernandez’s recorded confessions. The judge informed jurors they did not need to dismiss the recorded confessions if they found the initial unrecorded confession invalid.
The appeals court, in overturning the conviction, stated that the jury should have been given more comprehensive instructions, potentially including the option to disregard all confessions.
At the time of Etan’s disappearance, Hernandez was a teenager working near the boy’s Manhattan neighborhood. Initially, police did not suspect him but revisited him in 2012 after a tip suggested he had previously mentioned killing a child in New York.
The case of Etan Patz deeply impacted American society, leading to heightened parental vigilance and the establishment of a national missing-children hotline. The anniversary of his disappearance, May 25, is now recognized as National Missing Children’s Day.
