US supreme court reinstates murder conviction in case of Etan Patz

The US supreme court has reinstated a murder conviction in the long winding case of Etan Patz , whose 1979 disappearance at age six from New York City garnered national headlines. In a 6-3 decision on Monday, the supreme court agreed with New York prosecutors in their request to reverse a lower court ruling that had thrown out the murder conviction of Pedro Hernandez, 64, in the Patz case. Hernandez was convicted in 2017 of kidnapping and murdering Patz in New York state court, and he subsequently received a prison sentence of 25 years to life. Patz disappeared on 25 May 1979 while walking to a school bus stop in Manhattan’s SoHo – meaning South of Houston Street – neighborhood. Although Patz’s body was never found, investigators identified Hernandez as a suspect in 2012. At the time of the child’s disappearance, Hernandez worked at a convenience store near the boy’s bus stop. The second circuit US court of appeals in July overturned Hernandez’s conviction after it found that the judge presiding over the murder trial had given a “clearly wrong” and “manifestly prejudicial” response to a key jury question. Jurors had asked whether they must disregard Hernandez’s later confessions if they found that an earlier one, made before he was advised of his rights, was involuntary. The judge replied that “the answer is no.” According to the appeals court, jurors should have received a fuller explanation. …