A store clerk who confessed to kidnapping and killing 6-year-old Etan Patz in 1979 should get a new trial and be released from prison in the meantime, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.
A jury convicted Pedro Hernandez of felony murder and kidnapping in 2017, after he confessed to luring Patz into a basement as the child walked to his school bus stop alone in SoHo.
An earlier trial against Hernandez had ended in a mistrial after more than two weeks of jury deliberations, as described in the ruling. Hernandez appealed the conviction, arguing that the trial judge violated his rights by giving an improper response to a jury note. A panel of appellate judges agreed. They ordered his release from prison, unless a new trial date is set “within a reasonable period.”
A spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said prosecutors are reviewing the decision. Hernandez’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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