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lawyers A man whose conviction was recently overturned in the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz asked a judge Tuesday to set a date for his release from prison if prosecutors do not decide to seek a new trial soon.
Pedro Hernandez’s conviction was overturned in July by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that the jury in the 2017 trial should have received a more thorough explanation from the judge about its options, which could have included disregarding all the confessions. He was ordered released unless he was tried again “within a reasonable period”.
A federal judge expressed doubt Tuesday that the U.S. Supreme Court will consider a recent appeals court decision.
Judge Colleen McMahon manhattan There was no immediate ruling on a request by Hernandez’s lawyers to set a date for their client’s release.
Matthew Colangelo, a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office alvin braggSaid prosecutors likely won’t know for three months whether they will seek a new trial and whether the high court will hear any appeals.
He said the decision to retry Patz was being delayed due to the passage of time since the crime and uncertainty over how many of the 50 witnesses who testified in Patz’s 2017 trial would be available. So far, he said, prosecutors have spoken to about two dozen witnesses from the previous trial.
Although he said the chances of the Supreme Court hearing an appeal were “very remote”, the judge expressed skepticism, saying: “This is not the kind of case the Supreme Court would want to take.”
Hernandez’s lawyers say he falsely confessed because of a mental illness that sometimes caused him to hallucinate.
After Tuesday’s hearing, defense attorney Harvey Fishbein said he wanted prosecutors to decide whether to retry Hernandez because “we have a guy sitting in prison for 13 years who the Second Circuit said was innocent.”
He has already been sued twice. His conviction in 2017 came after a previous jury could not reach a verdict. Now 64, he is serving a sentence ranging from 25 years to life in prison.
Hernandez was a teenager working at a convenience store in the Downtown Manhattan neighborhood of Ayton when the boy disappeared. Police They met him while campaigning in the area, but did not suspect him until they received information in 2012 that he had made comments about the murder of a child years earlier. new yorkNo mention of Ethan’s name.
Ethan was one of the first missing children featured on milk cartons. His case contributed to an era of fear among American families, causing worried parents to become more protective of children who were allowed to roam and play unsupervised in their neighborhoods.