The US Supreme Court on Monday preserved the state-court conviction of a man serving time for the infamous 1979 abduction and killing of six-year-old Etan Patz. In doing so, the nation's highest court blocked a lower federal court's mandate that would have forced Manhattan authorities to either free or retry him.
The legal saga stems from the morning of May 25, 1979, when Patz vanished while walking alone to his school bus stop for the first time in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood. The ensuing high-profile disappearance catalyzed a massive national campaign to locate missing youths, famously pioneering the placement of children's photographs on milk cartons, though the boy's body was never located.
The investigation remained unresolved for over three decades until 2012, when law enforcement learned that Pedro Hernandez - a former worker at a neighborhood grocery store near the bus stop - had privately admitted to his ex-wife and associates that he had strangled a young child. Hernandez later confessed to investigators, which ultimately led to a conviction for kidnapping and felony murder and a prison sentence of 25 years to life.
Defense attorneys have consistently maintained the confession was fabricated due to severe mental illness.
Seeking a writ of habeas corpus in federal court, Hernandez challenged the trial judge's handling of a jury inquiry regarding his admissions of guilt. Although a federal district court initially dismissed his petition, the New York-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately overturned the state conviction, paving the way for his release or a retrial.
The Supreme Court dismantled that appellate intervention on Monday through an unsigned ruling.
“The Second Circuit exceeded its authority in holding that Hernandez is entitled to relief," the majority wrote. “The panel’s opinion appears to reflect serious doubt about the reliability of Hernandez’s confessions, but (federal law) does not allow a federal habeas court to disturb a state-court conviction based on such an evaluation of the evidence."
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg lauded the Supreme Court's intervention on Monday.
“Today the Supreme Court agreed with the findings of multiple lower courts and upheld the trial conviction of Pedro Hernandez for the horrific murder of Etan Patz, which changed a generation of New Yorkers," Bragg said in a public statement. “This office has remained steadfast in its pursuit of justice for Etan and the Patz family and will continue to stand by this important conviction."