Supreme Court reinstates murder conviction in disappearance of Etan Patz

The Supreme Court on Monday reinstated a murder conviction in the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz , whose case shocked New York City and changed the way parents watched over their kids. The justices, by a 6-3 vote, granted an appeal from New York prosecutors who had urged them to undo a federal appeals court decision that overturned the verdict. The three liberal justices dissented. Prosecutors had been preparing to try the man, Pedro Hernandez, for a third time. His first trial ended in a mistrial. The unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed Hernandez' murder and kidnapping conviction in the second trial because of how the judge had answered a question from jurors. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had called the basis for overturning the conviction "a slender reed" that essentially ignored a 5-month-long trial with 66 witnesses. The Supreme Court justices agreed, in an unsigned opinion, that federal courts should not second-guess state courts under a 1996 federal law that was intended to reduce federal court oversight of state criminal trials. "The Second Circuit exceeded its authority in holding that Hernandez is entitled to relief," the high court wrote, referring to the New York-based appeals court. Hernandez, 64, has been serving a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. Monday's decision means he will continue to serve his sentence at the Elmira Correctional Facility in New York. …