Supreme Court Restores Hernandez Conviction in Etan Patz

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday reinstated the murder conviction of Pedro Hernandez for the 1979 kidnapping and killing of six-year-old Etan Patz, a case that profoundly shaped national awareness of missing children. The 6-3 ruling, with the court’s three liberal justices dissenting, overturned a federal appeals court decision that had ordered a new trial for Hernandez.

The decision means Hernandez, 64, will remain in prison serving a sentence of 25 years to life. He was convicted in 2017 after a second trial; his first trial in 2015 ended in a mistrial due to a deadlocked jury. The Supreme Court’s unsigned opinion stated that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit had “exceeded its authority” in granting Hernandez relief.

The legal dispute centered on jury instructions during Hernandez’s 2017 trial. While deliberating, jurors asked the judge whether they must disregard Hernandez’s later, videotaped confessions-given after he was read his Miranda rights-if they found his initial, pre-Miranda confession to be involuntary. The trial judge, Maxwell Wiley, responded, “The answer is no.” Last year, the 2nd Circuit ruled that this instruction was “clearly wrong and manifestly...